When You Are Here
by Hermione Eveningfall
Summary: This is a sequel to a story I'm about to write, which is called Needing You.I had a version of the first story on here before, but it was filled with many flaws, so Im redoing it. : This has been revised, too, just FYI. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1 Reflection

When You Are Here

Chapter 1 Reflection

Hermione Granger hummed a tune as she sat at her desk, facing her large oval mirror early one July morning. She brushed her thick, brown hair and thought about her plans for the day. Her parents were taking her into London to shop for a new round of school clothes, and she wanted to visit her boyfriend, Harry Potter, and his godfather, Sirius Black. A few times she had received owls from the two of them, but in each letter there was bad news. Harry's health had declined a lot over the summer holiday, and he had been in and out of the hospital after a bought of bronchitis during the first month of the holiday.

"I wish you would get better, Harry." Hermione told no one in particular. Her large, ginger cat Crookshanks lay on her bed, his fluffy tail swishing back and forth. She smiled at the animal that she had bought before her third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Hermione's other best friend, Ron Weasley, had NOT been pleased when Hermione had purchased Crookshanks, because the cat had attempted to attack an old pet of his: a rat Scabbers. However, the rat had turned out not to be what it had seemed, and Crookshanks turned into a hero.

"I wish you could come, Crookshanks." Hermione babied her pet as she walked over to him, stroking his fur. "But Harry's been sick lately. And you can't come into town with Mum, Dad and I anyway." She smiled as she felt the motion of the cat's purring under the palm of her hand.

The reason behind Harry's illness was not completely natural, of course; nothing ever was in the wizarding world. During their previous year at Hogwarts, their fifth to be exact, he had come down with a very bad flu that had threatened to turn into pneumonia. As a result, Hermione, Sirius, Harry and Ron had fled for Romania using a Portkey and lived amongst the dragon caves. Unfortunately, Voldemort, the most feared wizard, had been behind the severity of Harry's illness.

Lord Voldemort attempted to use the boy's weakness as an avenue to kill him, but once again, failed. In the midst of the battle between Harry, Ron, Hermione, Sirius and Voldemort, Ron's eldest brother Charlie had been killed. Hermione shuddered as she pictured the eldest Weasley brother lying as still as Cedric Diggory in the middle of a field, eyes wide open in terror.

"Hermione! Are you ready?"

Hermione jumped at the sound of her father's voice, and quickly kissed Crookshanks on the head before standing and checking her reflection in the mirror one last time.

"Coming, Dad!" She replied, grabbing her purse and hurrying downstairs. Her parents were in the hallway, making sure they had everything they needed for their outing and smiled when their daughter descended the stairs.

"You look georgous," laughed Mrs. Granger when Hermione joined them.

"Thanks, Mum. Say-can I visit Harry since we're going to be in London? He won't mind if I drop in I don't think."

The Grangers glanced at each other. They had heard Hermione sobbing at night over her boyfriend, and they weren't sure what to say.

"I suppose it won't be a problem." Mr. Granger told her. "Now lets go- I really would like to try and beat the traffic."

Hermione nodded and hurried outside into the stuffy summer air.


	2. Chapter 2 London

Chapter 2 London

Harry Potter was so exhausted. He lay on the couch in the living room of his Godfather's new apartment, covered in blankets. A saucer and a cup of steaming chamomile tea sat on the coffee table along with a box of tissues. "Do you need anything, Harry? I'm going to head to the grocery store and do some shopping for the week."

Harry shook his head. "I'm fine, Sirius. Thanks."

Sirius smiled. "I wish you'd feel better, kid. After all-your birthday's coming up in two weeks, and I thought we should do something fun for it."

This was one thing Harry had been looking forward to. For the past fourteen years of his life, he'd been stuck living with his Aunt Petunia Dursley-his dead mother's sister-her husband Vernon and son Dudley. Having Harry with them seemed to be a serious burden, and as a result, they never took the liberty of giving him a decent birthday party, let alone presents or even a cake.

"Sounds good. I hope I feel better too." Harry paused. "Thank you for taking care of me, Sirius. I'm not too much fun when I'm sick."

Sirius ruffled his hair. "Don't worry about it. Just take it easy and I shouldn't be more than an hour or so."

Sirius turned to head for the front door of the small apartment when he heard a few knocks.

"Who could that be I wonder?" Harry asked, sitting up and trying to look healthier. Since he couldn't see the door from where he lay, he strained to listen as Sirius answered it.

"Well what a surprise! Come on in!" Harry heard Sirius call. "Harry- someone's here to see you."

Harry raised an eyebrow in confusion-he hadn't been expecting any visitors. Suddenly, his heart leapt when the visitor entered the living room.

"Hermione!" He gasped. "I didn't know you were coming! Oh geeze-I'm sorry-I look awful." He attempted to climb off of the couch, but Hermione's glare kept him from doing so.

"Don't you dare move, Harry." She told him. Then she came over, knelt down and wrapped her arms around him. "God, I've missed you." She whispered, burrying her nose against his shoulder. "My parents are taking me shopping in town today so I thought I'd stop by and see how you were feeling."

Harry laughed after kissing her hair. "Where are your parents now?" He asked, as she had come in alone.

"They wanted to go to this furniture store a few blocks down and they're going to pick me up in about a half hour," She replied, joining him on the couch. She caught Sirius' eyes, and smiled softly. "He looks a little better today," she announced, and Harry's cheeks turned a light shade of crimson.

Sirius nodded. "He was up half the night coughing, though. But yeah, he does look better today." he pocketed his wand, and gave a quick glance about the room. "I'm glad you could stop by, Hermione. But I have to go out for a bit-our pantry is getting low."

Hermione giggled. "Hey-have you heard anything from Ron this summer?"

"I did," said Harry, who still had his arms around her waist. "He's just spending the summer at home this year-taking a few trips to the seashore. His family is still greiving over Charlie." Harry couldnt help but feel guilty over Charlie's death; if it hadn't been for him, Ron's brother would still be alive. Of course, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley did not blame him in the least, but that did not quite change things in his mind.

Hermione kissed him. "Poor Ron. I think we need to spend a week together-just the three of us."

Sirius folded his arms. "Well--I was thinking of having a party for Harry's sixteenth birthday," he pointed out, and Harry felt Hermione hug him more tightly.

Hermione giggled, nodding her agreement, and was thrilled when Harry's eyes lit up at the idea. "Definitely," she replied. "Let me know what you guys decide to come up with."

"Certainly. Well-have fun, you two! Don't do anything I wouldn't." Sirius winked at them as he headed out of the apartment. When he was gone at last, Harry reached for a tissue and sneezed loudly.

"Bless you." Said Hermione, shaking her head.

"Thank you." Harry let Hermione settle him into a comfortable positon on the couch, keeping him warm by wrapping the blankets around him up to his neck. For a few moments, neither of them spoke. They had not been going out for that long-they had only declared their relationship the previous Christmas, so it had only been about seven months. Ron, also, had found a girlfriend-Lavender Brown-another sixth year Gryffindor.

"Hey-would you like to come with us when we go shopping? I think you need to get some fresh air." Said Hermione.

"I would have to have let Sirius know, and he said he'd be about an hour food shopping," Harry told her. "Trust me-I'd love to go."

"We'll leave him a note, then. I'm sure he won't mind-he trusts me-or at least I hope he does." She giggled.

"Of course he trusts you. Otherwise he wouldn't have let you past the doorway."

"Well then?" Hermione asked, arching her eyebrow questioningly.

"Let me see if I can get up first," Harry laughed. "If I accomplish that much and can stand on my feet for more than five minutes without falling down, then I'll let you take me."

Hermione helped Harry untangle his body from the blankets and grinned. He was wearing a pair of baggy sweatpants and an old t-shirt. She stood aside and held her breath as he stood slowly. "There-you see? Not so hard-whoa." She caught him as he swayed a bit when he took the first step. "I've got you." She helped him straighten up and watched as he took a deep breath and walked a bit around the living room. When he was ready to sit down again, she helped him back over to the couch. "Hmmm-maybe you shouldn't go out quite yet." She replied, shaking her head, watching as he leaned back.

"I'm sorry." Harry whispered, embarassed.

"Don't be. You've been sick-you need your rest." She smoothed his untidy, jet-black hair and kissed him. "So when are you planning to go to Diagon Alley to get your school things?"

Harry hadn't even thought about school lately, so he had no idea, and told Hermione so. "Hopefully in a few weeks-probably the last few weeks of August I'm guessing."

She nodded. "Sounds good. I'm not sure if my Mum and Dad had a vacation planned-certainly not out of England, of course-or maybe-but they probably would have told me about it earlier this summer." She shrugged. "Plus they both know how sick you've been and think I should be keeping a close eye on you." She winked.

Harry laughed. "So what were you planning on buying in town today? I wish I could come-you look so beautiful in everything." He caressed her cheek with his frail hand. Hermione reached up and clutched his fingers tightly, bringing them to her lips in a small kiss.

When Hermione's parents came to retrieve her, she was sad to leave, but told Harry she'd be in contact with him soon. "I'm sorry you're not feeling well, Harry." Mrs. Granger told him as they stood in the living room with Hermione.

"I'm sure I'll be all right," Harry insisted. "Once school starts up again and I'm distracted."

Hermione quickly kissed him, reluctantly letting go of his hand. "I love you," She said. "I'll make sure I model whatever I buy. Plenty of sexy things, of course." She turned to her mother and father who were both looking at each other with smirks, and then she turned back to Harry with a wink. Harry waved as she left, and settled back into his blankets with a sigh.


	3. Chapter 3 Grief

Chapter 3 Grief

"Ronald Weasley-are you going to sleep the day away?"

Ron groaned inwardly at the sound of his mother's voice, and pulled his blankets over his head. He heard the door to his small, BRIGHT orange bedroom (the same posters of his favorite Quidditch team were still plastered along his walls) and then he heard footsteps.

"Ron, love-you have to stop this. Your father and I are starting to worry about you. I know how badly you miss Charlie but all of us know that no amount of tears will bring him back."

Ron slowly puled the blankets away from his face, and his eyes focused on his mother, who sat beside him. Silence filled the air for a few moments as he sat up, yawning and stretching his arms over his head.

He still had a hard time believing that Charlie was gone. Even though his eldest brother spent most of the year in Romania, it was strange to think he would never come home again for holidays.

Ron had never been more anxious to start another term at Hogwarts; he needed to get back into a regular routine of classes, Quidditch practice, and spending as much time with Lavender, Harry and Hermione as possible.

"Ron-I think this will cheer you up." Mrs. Weasley spoke again handed her son an envelope. "This came for you earlier this morning and Hedwig was the messenger."

Ron nodded. "Thanks, Mum. I'll be downstairs in a minute. What time is it anyway?"

"11:30."

"Eleven-thirty?!?!" Ron cried, whipping his head around to look at the clock on his night stand. "Blimey-I DID nearly sleep half the day away!"

Mrs. Weasley laughed. "Yes, you did. But you haven't missed lunch. Ginny, Fred, George, Percy and Bill are downstairs and they're starting to get the food together. So move your bum along!" She gave him a kiss before standing up and leaving the room. Bill, Ron's other elder brother, had come to stay with them for a few weeks. Bill worked at Gringotts Wizard Bank in Egypt, but he wanted to be there as emotional support for his family that summer.

When he was sure his mother was gone, Ron glanced at the writing on the envelope. It didn't look like Harry's handwriting, so he guessed it was probably from Sirius. "Oh great." Ron thought. "Harry's probably in the hospital again." With trembling fingers, Ron opened the envelope and pulled out a piece of parchment. The letter went like this:

_Dear Ron: _

_You're probably panicking at the moment, so I'll get straight to the point. Since Harry's been feeling better (with the exception of sneezing his head off every other day), I am going to plan a party for his sixteenth-birthday. Here is all of the information you need to know: _

_Where: Diagon Alley--Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor When: July 28th-August 3rd (You will be spending a week with Harry, Hermione & I-Hermione suggested you needed a home away from home for a while to cheer you up) What to bring: clothes and anything else you, Harry and Hermione enjoy. _

_Please RSVP as soon as possible! Would appreciate if you could come. Harry says "Hello." _

_Sirius _

Ron re-read the letter and found that his lips had curled into a big smile- the first time he'd smiled that way in a long time. Quickly he grabbed a blank piece of parchment from his desk and wrote an RSVP to Sirius:

_Sirius, _

_Count me in! I'm glad Harry's feeling better (or sort of). I was getting worried. Say "Hello" back to him for me. _

_Ron _

With that, he set the original letter on his desk and hurried downstairs into the kitchen where the rest of his family gathered around the table eating. "It's about time that ickle Ronnekins woke up!" Fred, one of the twins, teased when he saw his brother coming in.

"Good morning, Ron!" said Ginny in between bites. "What's that?" she asked, noticing the letter in his hand.

"An RSVP. Sirius invited me to spend a week with him, Harry and Hermione in London so I'm writing a reply saying..."

"You're not going?" asked Mr. Weasley with a frown.

"What do you mean? Of course I'm going, Dad." Ron snorted. "Think I'm nuts or something? I just came down here so I could send it with Pig." Pigwigdeon was Ron's midget owl, given to him, in fact, by Sirius Black during his third year at Hogwarts. Pigwigdeon was the name Ginny had picked out, and Ron hated it. Plus, the owl was a crazy git-a bit overhyper.

Mrs. Weasley put one hand on her hip and gave Ron the once-over. "Forgive us, Ron, but you've been acting so melancholy lately that we had a bad feeling you wouldn't want to leave home."

"Well-I'm over that now." Ron insisted, ignoring the expressions of disbelief on the faces of his parents and siblings as he began preparing a lunch for himself. He took a seat and Bill got that signal as a cue to start a new conversation, and began talking about the curses he'd had to work with. (Bill was a curse-breaker at the bank)

After lunch, Ron hurried to Pig's cage, rolling his eyes as the tiny owl began sqawking and flying all about, whacking it's head a few times on the top of the cage. "Oi." Ron groaned as he opened the door. "Hold still, Pig! Let me get this on you-there. Send this to Harry and Sirius. You know where they are now." Ginny watched with amusent as Pigwigdeon nearly carried Ron out the window with him.

Now, Ron thought to himself, all he had to do was wait.


	4. Chapter 4 Planning the party

Chapter 4 Planning the Party

Harry groaned miserably as he sneezed for at least the twentieth in the past hour and a half. He sat at the oval dining room table with Sirius and Hermione a few afternoons later. They had a pad of paper and were creating a list of people to invite to the party (a surprise party, Hermione and Sirius decided, would probably be too taxing on Harry's health) and what to have food-wise.

"Bless you." Said Hermione, putting her chin in her palm. She hated hearing her boyfriend sneeze so much and feel so miserable. "I think you need to go and get an allergy test or something, Harry." She added as Harry proceeded to sneeze again. "This is rediculous. It can't possibly be a cold, can it, Sirius?" she looked at the former convict, who was rubbing his chin and watching his godson with worry.

"Im not sure...it's hard to tell sometimes," he admitted, "though you're right, Hermione...that may be on the list of things to do this week."

Harry sighed...he was so tired of doctors. Sirius had taken him to a muggle hospital during his bought of bronchitis, and it had been absolute torture. He sniffed and reached for a napkin to blow his nose on. "So what have we come up with so far?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

"You wanted to invite Ron, Fred, George, Ginny, Dean, Seamus, Neville, Katie, Alicia, Angelina and..." Sirius jumped when Harry sneezed AGAIN.

"God Bless you!" said Hermione with a laugh.

"Sirius-I can't take this sneezing anymore." Harry choked.

"I think I'm going to take you to the doctor again tonight and get this taken care of," Sirius replied, shaking his head. "I'm so sorry you're feeling so lousy."

Harry nodded, laying his head on the table. Hermione stroked her boyfriend's messy black hair and leaned her cheek against it. "I love you." She whispered, causing Harry to smile weakly.

"I love you too." He replied.

Suddenly something squawked and hit the window, and Hermione quickly stood to go and inspect what the noise was. "It's Pig!" She cried. "He probably has Ron's answer!" She opened the window and allowed the owl to flutter in. Harry stood up and joined her and watched with asmusment as the tiny owl flumped to the rug.

"Some owl you got him, Sirius." Harry laughed when his godfather joined them as well.

"Well-what does the note say?" Sirius asked, once Hermione opened it. "He's coming!" She cried. "Oh that's great!" She threw her arms around Harry. "Now we just have to send out invitations to the rest of the gang and hope that they're all going to be able to come too."

Harry kissed her, making Sirius laugh. "Geeze, you two. Get a room!" He joked. "Oh shut up," Harry replied. "I really want to thank you for letting me have a birthday party."

Sirius ruffled Harry's jet-black hair. "You deserve it, kiddo. With how sick you've been and the treatment you've received most of your life from the Dursley's. I'm so glad I could take you in with me."

Harry smiled and then looked at Hermione who was smiling too. "So what did you want to do for dinner? I think we should order ten pizzas, knowing how much those guys eat. I swear, Harry, Dean could wolf down an entire large everything!"

Both Harry and Sirius laughed as they flopped down on the living room couch. For a while neither of them spoke, and they just sat staring at the blank television set in front of them. Hermione pretended to faint and fell across both of their laps, laughing when both of them proceeded to tickle her. "Stop it!" She squealed, curling into a ball. "Stooooop!" She practically squished Harry against the back of the couch. "If I could use magic outside of school I'd get you back SOOO badly," She snapped once they let her go.

"Is that so, now?" Sirius asked with a mischevious grin.

"It is. I am the cleverest witch in our year anyway, right Harry?" She turned to him.

"And the witch with the biggest ego on the planet as well," Harry teased.

"Hey!" Hermione slapped him on the arm. "I do NOT have an ego, thank you very much!" She folded her arms, still lying on her back so she looked rather like a mummy. "You've seen me at work, so don't even THINK about contradicting me. I've saved your butt plenty of times, Harry." She stuck her tongue out at him, but he bent over and kissed her.

"I'm just kidding. You are a clever little witch, and you're MY clever little witch."

"Gag me," Sirius joked. "Harry-I think we'd better schedule a doctor's appointment just to be on the safe side. You need SOME relief from those allergies."

Hermione let Sirius up and watched as he headed into the kitchen to use the telephone. When Sirius was out of earshot, Hermione let Harry lay down on the couch and squeezed in so she was lying beside him.

"I could stay like this forever," Harry whispered, brushing a few stray strands of hair away from Hermione's eyes.

"I wouldn't mind that." She replied. "I'm so glad we finally decided to date each other, Harry. I'm just sorry I didn't realize how perfect we were for each other till last year."

"I was at fault too you know." Harry replied. "And I'm going to sneeze again so I'd move out of the way." Hermione quickly sat up and watched as he covered his mouth with his hands.

"Well?" She asked when nothing came.

"It's coming." Harry insisted. "I think."

When it did come, Hermione shook her head. "You HAVE to feel better by the time the party comes. Otherwise we'll have to have you in a bed outside and what fun would that be? I'm sure in the mood to have some dancing."

"I won't be in a bed outside. I promise you that. Maybe I could convince Sirius to put a well-spell on me so I feel fine by then." He leaned against her. "I hope so, because-because it feels as though every day I loose a little. I'm so tired-I'm so tired of fighting."

Hermione hugged him. "I know you are, Harry. You're fighting so hard, but you have to keep the battle going-for Ron and I. We couldn't go on without you."

Harry hugged her tight, just as Sirius came into the living room again. "It's all set, Harry. Unfortunately the doctor cant see you today, but you have an appointment at 7:30 in the morning. Hopefully this will clear things up."

"Thanks," Harry replied, yawning.

"I should give my parents a call-" Hermione began, chewing on her lower lip nervously. "I don't want to be in the way tomorrow."

"No," said Harry, taking her hand. "You can sleep over if you like...I want you to come with me." his eyes searched hers, full of pleading, and she settled back into her chair, fiddling with her bracelet.

"Oh-well..." she stuttered, and Sirius smiled.

"Whatever you want to do, Hermione, is fine with us," he insisted.

Hermione smiled, deciding it wasn't worthwhile to argue. She and Harry hadn't seen each other most of the summer, and she was pining for some alone time with him. _Preferably in his bed, _she thought wickedly, hoping the thought didnt show on her face. "I'll see if I can sleep over. Sirius, can I use your telephone?" Despite the fact that many of the items in the small flat were of magical background, Sirius made sure to have a telephone due to his being in a muggle area of London. This resulted in the lack of vacant flats in Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade, and Sirius had used an invisibility spell on his flat, to prevent the muggles in the city from witnessing any of his magical use.

"Of course," he insisted, and pointed in the direction of the phone hanging on the wall. Harry watched as she stood and walked over to it, giving a slight shiver.

"I'm sorry, Sirius," he whispered, and his godfather raised an eyebrow.

"For what, Harry?" he asked, and Harry frowned, hugging his arms around himself.

"For all of this...for making you worry so much."

Hermione glanced out of the corner of her eye as she spoke with her mother, and watched Sirius envelope her boyfriend into his arms. Harry nestled against his godfather's chest, and she had to quickly turn away before she started crying.

"Thanks, Mum," she squeaked. "I promise I won't be home too late tomorrow." after hanging up, she turned back to the two of them, and watched as Sirius encouraged Harry to go and lie down in bed.

"My parents said it was fine that I spent the night," Hermione insisted, and Harry grabbed her hand, encouraging her to follow him upstairs.

"That's great," he replied, smiling weakly. "Come on, we can catch up in private for a bit."

Sirius smirked as they headed down the narrow hallway towards Harry's bedroom, and Hermione watched as he flopped backwards onto his bed with a grunt. She joined him, and he immediately pulled her towards him, placing his lips against hers. She groaned with pleasure and snuggled close to his side, smoothing his bangs out of the way so she could look at his lightening shaped scar. Many girls at Hogwarts would have committed murder to be in the position she had now, and it made her laugh to think about it.

"What is it?" Harry asked, his voice somewhat hoarse, and Hermione shook her head.

"Nothing," she insisted, caressing his cheek. "I'm just thinking about how lucky I am." she kissed him once more.

"I know I am," he replied, and she beamed.


	5. Chapter 5 So tired

Chapter 5 One by one

Sleep did not come as easily as either teenager would have liked that night. Due to his quite stuffy nose, Harry snored loudly for the most part, and no amount of nudging from Hermione could get it to stop. These were times she desparately wished she could use magic outside of school, which would have given her the option of putting a silencing spell on him. She'd been tempted several times to wake Sirius at , but refrained from doing so, and used her music instead. Eventually she fell asleep long past one o'clock in the morning.

The doctor's office was not very crowded when they arrived for their appointment; Hermione allowed Harry to lean against her while she flipped through a magazine. Muggle reading material was so boring, due to the fact that neither of the pictures moved. _Funny, because I grew up with this before I went to Hogwarts, _she thought, sighing softly, and watching as Sirius sat staring blankly at the wall, tapping his shoe on the worn carpet.

When the nurse called Harry's name, Hermione nudged her boyfriend's shoulder, aiding him in standing up and heading over to the desk. "Follow me, please," the young woman in the white labcoat ordered kindly, and they headed down a hallway. They went into a small room about half the size of a classroom at Hogwarts, and the nurse introduced herself as Sarah. Sirius peered at the strange muggle instruments on the table, and Hermione whispered to him which each item was used for.

"It just seems so much easier when you can just use magic," Sirius muttered to himself when the nurse had gone out to get something, and Hermione giggled.

"We get along all right, too," she said. "of course, these remedies usually take time." he stared at her in disbelief, and she shrugged, just as Harry let out another sneeze.

"Bless you," they told him at once, and he thanked them softly, rubbing his nose with the back of his wrist. Sarah returned shortly after she'd gone out, and encouraged Harry to hold out his arm for her. Hermione scooted off to the side so the nurse could take care of what she had to without interruption, and watched as alcohol was rubbed onto Harry's skin. He wrinkled his nose at the strong smell, and his eyes widened when she held up an instrument with four small needles poking out.

"What's that?" he asked, and Sarah smiled at him.

"This is what we use to test for allergies," she explained, "you'll just feel a little pinch, and if the small circular spot on your arm swells, that will mean the test has come out positive."

Harry swallowed and glanced at Sirius, who was listening to Hermione explain about allergies, and what muggles normally did to help relieve symptoms. "Though I'm sure the school nurse has something he could take when we get there that'll work much more effectively," she said, trying not to give away the idea that they were not normal human beings.

Once Harry's arm was pricked, they had to sit and wait, which was quite boring. As they waited, Harry's sneezes were sometimes so powerful, that the lights in the doctor's office dimmed, even though the weather was perfectly clear outside.

"Very strange!" Sarah cried when the power flickered for the fifth time, and Hermione's eyes were wide. "I should speak with the doctor and see if he can't find an electrician to figure out what's going on. We've never had a problem like this before."

Harry blushed; he had a feeling Sirius used magical protection on his own electrical devices in the flat to prevent this from happening at home.

Sure enough, the small round prick on his arm swelled, causing the skin around the spot to itch. Sirius groaned softly as Sarah explained the situaton, and began to test her patient on certain allergens. "Dust and pollen are most common," she promised when he reacted to both of those items. "Given his symptoms, his allergies seem to be somewhat serious, but again he is not the first I have seen in this situation. While they aren't entirely treatable, there are plenty of medications availible in pharmacies that he may take to relieve the sneezing."

Sirius asked how long the medicines usually took to work, and Sarah replied, "Oh...it depends on the person," she replied. "The average amount of time I would say is about a half an hour to an hour. but again, everyone is different, and he could feel a difference in less."

Harry sniffed and accepted a tissue from Hermione, who scolded him for using the side of his wrist. He blew his nose, coughing slightly, and she patted him on the back.

"I see," Sirius replied. "Well, thank you."

Sarah nodded in reply, and led them out of the office to pay for the visit. Hermione offered to help with the payment, but Sirius immediately refused. "I could never take money from you," he said, and she bit her lip. "But I do appreciate the offer, Hermione."

She glanced at Harry who looked ready to fall over with exhaustion, and reached down to lace her fingers through his. "Well, at least we know why you've been so miserable these past few weeks," she whispered, and he made a face, causing her to laugh. "And at least it's not a fatal illness. My father has hay fever also, and he's still perfectly alive," she added, and Harry smirked.

"Good to know," he croaked, and she ruffled his hair.

When they left, Sirius asked if either of them wanted to go out for a bit of food before returning home. "No thank you," Harry replied. "Not all that hungry."

Sirius then took them back to the flat, and encouraged his godson to head upstairs to bed and rest again. When he and Hermione were alone, they sat down at the kitchen table eating fresh toast and butter for lunch.

For quite a while, neither spoke. Hermione didn't trust her own voice, for she felt a lump forming in her throat, and feared she would cry at any given moment. "This has just been an uphill battle for Harry," Sirius finally spoke. "Ever since Voldemort's attack, he's never been the same." Hermione turned to him, and realized his eyes were filled with tears as well. "It just seems like no matter what we do, he keeps getting weaker."

Hermione wet her lips. "I know," she replied. "It's just strange. Harry's been attacked before by him before, and usually he's come out all right."

Sirius smiled at her. "He wasn't sick first those other times," he pointed out. "Harry's condition wasn't the best to begin with, and no doubt Voldemort took full advantage."

Hermione hugged herself, tears filling her eyes again. "I just...I wish we could do something for him," she whispered. "Anything."

"We're doing everything we can," Sirius said. They both heard coughing from Harry's room a few moments later. "I want to take him to St. Mungos, but he's definitely not up for the journey. Besides, I have to work...I'm barely making enough to pay rent and support the two of us while working for Gringotts. I know Harry's offered to let me use the money his parents left behind, but I just can't...he needs it for the next two years at school."

Hermione finally couldn't hold it in any longer. She burried her face in her hands and cried at last, allowing Sirius to hug her. "Shhhh-it's all right, Hermione," he insisted. "soon you'll both be back at Hogwarts, and Professor Dumbledore will be able to help."

Hermione lifted her head. "I'm going to see if Harry's all right," She said in a quiet voice. Sirius nodded and watched as she headed down the hallway. Hermione opened the door to Harry's room, which was now dark with the exception of a small nightlight.

"Harry?" Hermione asked, creeping over to the side of his bed. Harry opened his eyes and looked over.

"Hermione?"

"Do you need anything? How are you feeling?" Hermione sat down on his bed beside him.

"I have a horrible headache. Other than that, I don't feel too bad. That medicine we got did help," he replied. The nurse had drugged Harry up with a sample of the allergy medicine she recommended, so that was probably the cause of Harry's drowsiness and his headache. Hermione stroked Harry's forehead with the tips of her fingers before she lay down, placing her arms around him.

"Sirius is so frightened, Harry. So am I. It's just...you-know-who's been vanquished before, but he's never officially died. I'm so scared that he's just in hiding again, waiting for the right time to come and destroy you."

Harry nodded in understanding. "Maybe," he whispered, giving another yawn. "I'm sorry, Hermione...I understand what you're going on about, but do you mind if I go back to sleep?"

Hermione kissed him, shaking her head. "Of course not," she replied. "You definitely need it."

Harry thanked her, turning over in his bed and bundling beneath the covers. She stroked his hair lovingly, listening as his breathing began to relax somewhat. When he finally seemed to be out, she kissed his cheek and tiptoed out of the bedroom.


	6. Chapter 6 Lavender's visit

Chapter 6 Lavender's Visit

Ron lay on top of his quilt on his bed reading QUIDDITCH THROUGH THE AGES the next morning. He was feeling a bit more cheerful than he had been in the past few weeks, because he was looking forward to spending time with Harry and Hermione and his other Gryffindor friends. Speaking of friends, his concentration broke when a gray, thick-feathered barn owl swooped into his bedroom through the window, and dropped an envelope on his bed.

"What the-thanks," Ron told the owl who gave him a feeble hoot before zooming out again. Ron, wondering who on Earth could have written him this time, tore the envelope open and pulled out a piece of parchment. Immediately his lips curled into a big smile when he recognized the handwriting-the letter was from his girlfriend, Lavender Brown. It read:

Dear Ron,

Hullo, love! How are you? I haven't heard from you in a bit, so I was starting to get a bit worried. I received your most recent letter and is Harry better? I feel so sorry for him. I feel sorry for you too, because it seems like you and your family are still having a hard time getting over Charlie, which is why I decided to come up with this idea. I'm stopping over tonight so we can just cuddle and talk, because I miss you so much. And, because-you crazy git-your Mum wrote me and said she was worrying about you, because you've been sleeping in every day till almost noon. I'm ready to knock some sense into you. (Ron had to laugh at that comment. Lavender always tried to sound threatening but she never really was)

I'm just sorry Harry's sick and that you've been so upset lately, but I'm sure you'll feel better once I'm there with you. Expect me around 9:00 tonight-you'd better be awake.

Love You, Lavender

Still smiling, Ron folded the letter and fell back on his bed, gazing up at the ceiling. The face of Victor Crum stared back at him, and though Ron had met the Quidditch player in person and hadn't been too fond of him, he still had his poster hanging up.

"RON! COME AND HELP DEGNOME THE GARDEN!"

Ron groaned when he heard his mother shout again from downstairs, and he figured it was safer to obey so he quickly hurried into the front hall.

"Coming, Mum!" Ron shouted and hurried out into the backyard. The Weasley garden was not the neatest of gardens around, but it was certainly hardy in greens. Ginny stood giggling to one side as she watched Fred chase around a stray potatoe-like creature in circles.

"Get 'im, Fred! Get 'im!" Ginny squealed, leaping up and down. "Ron! There's one!" She pointed to another potatoe-like creature. Gnomes were NOT, as Harry had originally thought, little Santa-Clause-type figures. They were ugly tiny gits that had mud-coloured, leathery skin and VERY sharp teeth.

Ron took his sister's advice and bolted after the thing, slamming hard down on his stomach as he grasped it by the feet. "Gerroff me!" It squealed, trying to force itself loose. "Gerroff me!"

"Half a moment," Ron laughed as he wound up his arm and sent the Gnome flying far over the fence. Fred and George watched as it sailed, grinning with amusement when they heard a PLUNK. "Try and beat that one, Fred!" He teased.

"I could as a matter of fact. Stand back, George. This one's going all the way past that tree!"

Ginny stood up on the garden bench to watch if her brother really COULD get it that far. Just as Ron had expected, Fred's ego got in the way and he had a pathetic throw that sent them all laughing. Mrs. Weasley came outside with a smile on her face as she saw Ron doubled over, tears streaming down his face. He cried out when Ginny attacked him in a tickle frenzy and was soon lying on his back, kicking his feet in the air. "Stop that!" He begged.

"You have to say UNCLE first!" Ginny yelled as she continued the torture.

"UNCLE! UNCLE!"

Ginny stood and watched as Ron continued lying on the grass, his breath coming in great heaves admist more laughter.

"Glad you kids are having fun working," Mrs. Weasley told them. "But I've brought you all some lemonade and cookies."

"Thanks!"

"Ron, by the way-I forgot to tell you something."

"That Lavender is coming over tonight? I know-her owl came and dropped off a notice."

Mrs. Weasley nodded. "Yes, that was exactly what I wanted to tell you. You're all right with that, aren't you? We didn't give you too much notice."

Ron shrugged. "Of course I'm all right with that. I'm always happy to see my girlfriend."

"His giiiiiirrrrrllllfriend," George teased. Then he pretended to burst into noisy tears. "Our ickle Ronnekins is growing up!" And he threw his arms around Fred.

"Oh stop it," Ron snapped. "Grow up."

"Yes. So I'm glad you're all right with the arrangement. I think you need some company other than your siblings"

Ron nodded, watching his mother set the tray of refreshments down on the bench and head back into the house.

Sure enough, later that night following dinner, there was the sound of a doorbell. "I'll get it!" Ginny called, starting to run out of the kitchen, where she stood helping with the dishes. Ron stopped her.

"Oh no you don't. I'll get it. It's Lavender." He hurried to the front hallway and, taking a deep breath and smoothing his flaming red hair, opened the door.

"Hullo, Ron."

Ron grinned. His girlfriend stood on the doorstep, dressed in a pair of denim shorts and a light blue tank top. Her brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she had a backpack over her shoulders. "Well, Ron-aren't you going to kiss me?" She asked, putting her hands on her hips.

Ron blinked. "I was just so amazed at how beautiful you look." He made up with her by kissing her, and led her into the house.

"I'm glad you think that." Lavender stood and cocked her head, gazing at him curiously.

"What?" Ron asked.

"Nothing. Let me go and say hi to your Mum and Dad first."

"Oh yeah. Mum's in the kitchen cleaning up and Dad's working on something in the garage. Fred and George are..."

BOOOM!

Lavender screamed when she heard an explosion from upstairs and leapt into Ron's arms. "What was that?" She cried.

Ron laughed. "It's only Fred and George," he explained. "Just because Mum banned them from their Weasley Wizard Wheezes doesn't mean they haven't stopped their inventing."

Sure enough, the VERY annoyed form of Mrs. Weasley came storming down the hallway.

"Hullo, Lavender. Pardon me-I have to holler at my boys for a moment." She stomped upstairs. Ron led Lavender into the living room and the two of them plopped down on the couch.

"So. Tell me-exactly what was wrong with Harry?" Lavender asked.

Ron sighed. "Tons of things. He just had an allergy test done yesterday...Hermone sent me an owl this morning, and it came out positive," he sighed. "and he was in the hospital earlier this summer...it's just been awful. I haven't seen him since the beginning of July. I just couldn't go to see him when he was sick-it was so sad."

Lavender nodded. "Poor Harry," she replied. "I'm sure once school starts it'll be a good distraction for him. Ooh...did I tell you my cousin Jessica is coming to Hogwarts for the first time this year?" she asked, and Ron raised his eyebrows. "She's my Dad's brother's youngest daughter, so she has my same last name."

"Really?" he asked, and she nodded.

"Yep! She's been showing random bursts of magical energy over the past few years...apparently she floated into mid air when she was having a bit of a temper tantrum. When she received her letter from Professor Dumbledore, my Aunt sent Mum an owl, and she starts on September 1st with us."

Ron blinked. "Wow," he replied. "are you close to Jessica?"

Lavender shrugged. "I guess," she admitted. "We dont see each other often, because she lives about two hours away. But she sticks to me like glue when we have family parties, and I have a feeling she'll do the same at school. I'll have to find someone she can kip with other than myself."

Ron snorted. He'd been very fortunate to become friends with Harry Potter; they'd hit it off immediately on the train the first day. Hermione hadn't come into the picture until later, after battling a mountain troll in the girl's bathroom in an attempt to save her life. Lavender casually grew into friendship with the trio, and soon they became a quartet by the end of the fifth year at Hogwarts.

"I hope so," he replied. "Sorry, Lavender...I haven't been the best at conversation lately; I really miss Charlie still, so it's hard..." he choked on his words, and Lavender smiled kindly.

"I understand," she promised, and he nodded, folding his arms. "We can just sit here if you like."

"Thanks," he replied, and she placed her hands in her lap, listening as the Weasley family went about their normal routine that evening. She felt a bit of relief tingling through her when Ron placed an arm around her shoulders, and closed her eyes, quite comfortable where she was. It wasnt until Ginny said good night and headed upstairs, that the two of them decided to make their way up to bed, not minding the small space they had to share. "G'night," Ron muttered once they were in their pajamas and the lights were off.

"G'night, Ron," Lavender replied, and soon the house dissolved into silence.


	7. Chapter 7 Party Time

Chapter 7 Party Time

Weeks later, the time of Harry's birthday party arrived. Sirius thanked God that Harry had been feeling so much better, and was in just as much of a frenzy getting things ready in Diagon Alley as he and Hermione. Still, Harry had dizzy spells every once in a while and had to be caught before falling flat on his face.

"So we have the main course, the cake, the plates, napkins, cups." Hermione went through the list as the three of them sat in the Ice Cream parlor on the afternoon of the celebration.

"Check, check, check, and check." Sirius laughed. "We've got it all, Hermione. And everybody's coming that we sent invitations to. I've hired a DJ so you guys can dance at the party."

"Cool," said Harry with a smile.

"How does it feel to be sixteen, Harry?" asked Hermione, taking his hand in hers. It was feeling warm again, which was a relief.

Harry smiled. "It feels wonderful. I really really appreciate all you're doing for me, Sirius."

Sirius smiled at him. "No problem, kiddo. Hmmm-it seems as though Ron and his siblings and Lavender are here."

Harry and Hermione quickly stood up and sure enough, they saw four heads of flaming red hair and one head of brown hair moving towards them, and the couple dashed outside.

"Hi, Harry!" Lavender called, waving and threw her arms around him when they met up. "Oh wow." She gave him the once over, amazed at how thin and tired he appeared. "Are you feeling all right today?"

"I'm feeling fine. Don't worry. Looks can be deceiving. Close your mouth, Ron." Harry snorted when he gave his best friend a hug. When Ron stepped back, his mouth was still hanging open and Hermione shut it for him.

"He looks worse than he is. Come on-Sirius is inside and our party is going to be out back. We have a big picnic table and you guys NEED to start eating the food so we don't have a ton of leftovers." Hermione put her arm around Ginny, whom she'd become close friends with over the years at Hogwarts, and led them inside.

Eventually the other guests arrived, and everyone, as Ron had been, were amazed at how different Harry appeared. They, however, didn't make a fuss, figuring it was safe not to and that it would upset Harry. The gifts were piled on one side of the party area and the music began playing about ten minutes in.

"You won't BELIEVE some of the stuff we came up with this summer," Fred laughed as he stood talking with Hermione and Harry. "Mum nearly had a nervous breakdown with all of our explosions. She said as long as we promised not to sell our products that she'd let us make them. We made glow- in-the-dark jell-o, fake rats, etc."

"They put one in MY bed," Ginny snapped. "Along with the talking whoopie-cushion!

Harry laughed. He had spent part of the summer before his second year with the Weasley's, and there was never a dull moment in that household for sure. "A talking whoopie-cushion?" Hermione asked. "You mean it actually says phrases?"

"Yep! I brought one to show you." George pulled one out of his plastic bag and handed it to Harry. "Squeeze it."

Harry did so and jumped back when the whoopie-cushion shouted "GET OFF, YOU GIT!"

The statement sent Hermione and Ron laughing.

Sirius came outside eventually and stood by the DJ's table, watching with a smile as Harry danced with Hermione and Angelina. Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell were dancing with the twins, and Dean and Seamus were dancing with Neville, Ron and Lavender.

"Take cover!" Ginny suddenly squealed after a couple of songs. It was getting quite hot, and everyone was sweaty and panting, taking a bit of a break.

Wondering what on earth the little red-headed girl was talking about, Harry turned around. SPLASH! A waterballoon smacked him right in the forehead. Then one hit him on the back, and soon they realized that the twins had snuck away from the dancing and were firing the missiles at the group.

"HEY!" Hermione squealed when a blue balloon splashed all over the front of her sundress. "FRED WEASLEY! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" She left Harry and bolted after the laughing boy, eventually doing the unthinkable and tackling him to the ground.

"Get him, Hermione!" Ron shouted.

"Whoa!" shouted Dean. "What've you been teaching her this summer, Harry?"

"Oooh-she has him in a headlock!" giggled Ginny.

When Hermione let go of Fred, the two of them sprawled out on the ground gasping for breath.

"Okay, okay-time for food!" Sirius shouted, and everyone hurried to the table.

The table was covered in a red and yellow tablecloth (the colors for Gryffindor), and red and yellow plates sat in two rows. Harry sat between Ron and Hermione; Lavender sat to the right of Ron and Dean sat to the left of Hermione. It was a great time. Everyone was laughing and telling jokes and stories. When evening fell, it was time for the cake and the presents. Harry sat on the grass with his stash and his friends gathered around him in a circle. Sirius had a wizard camera and was preparing to take shots of the occasion, and Florean Fortescue herself appeared to watch.

"Open mine first, Harry!" shouted Angelina, causing everyone to laugh.

"No, open mine first!" interrupted Neville.

"Hold on!" Harry laughed. "Too much shouting at once."

"He's right," said Hermione. "Let Harry choose. It's his birthday after all."

Harry gave her a smile of thanks and picked the smallest gift. He caught sight of Ginny, who was blushing to the tip of her ears and he realized he had chosen her gift first. He smiled back and read the card:

_Harry, _

_I wasn't sure if you would enjoy this, as you are a boy, but I do hope you like it. Bill helped me pick it out,_

_because you know, he wears all that stuff._

_Happy Birthday! Ginny Weasley _

Ginny was hiding behind Ron as he opened the package and pulled out a small box. Whe he opened the box he pulled out a gold chain and at the end was a charm in the shape of a lion, and a pendant that said GRYFFINDOR.

"Ginny-thank you!" Harry cried, when he held up the gift to show everyone. Ginny crept out from behind Ron and hurried over to envelope Harry in a big hug.

"Happy birthday," She whispered. Hermione smiled as Harry hugged her back.

"I love it."

"Are you SURE it's not too girly?" She asked. "I know guys don't wear necklaces too much."

"Ginny, I love it."

"Can I put it on you? It's a thick chain so it won't look too weird."

Harry laughed and allowed her to put the necklace around his neck and fasten the clasp. Hermione rubbed his back and smiled as he fingered the charms at the end. Ginny immediately hurried back to her spot and folded her arms in her lap, looking down at the grass. The Weasley's were often embarassed VERY easily, which was amusing.

The rest of his presents were just as wonderful as the first. He had received a scrapbook of all of the Quidditch games from the first year on from Seamus; a book of healing charms from Hermione; a Chuddly Cannons sweatshirt from Ron, along with a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans. From Fred and George Harry received a box of their gags. "Use them wisely now, Harry." Said Fred with a wink.

"I will." Harry laughed.

When the present opening had finished, it was time for the cake and ice cream, provided by Florean of course. Everyone stood and sung Happy Birthday to You and He's a Jolly good fellow, before Sirius ordered Harry to make a wish and blow out the candles.

"This cake looks too good to eat!" laughed Hermione. They had chosen a chocolate cake with chocolate icing and chocolate chips sprinkled ontop.

Harry closed his eyes for a few moments and there was silence until he blew out the candles, and then applause errupted. "Happy Birthday Harry!" shouted Ginny.

A few hours later, the party ended and everyone except Ron and Hermione headed home after saying goodbye. When the guests had left, Harry was so tired, but it was a comfortable sort of tired-not a sick-tired. He helped Sirius clear the trash away and pack the gifts into the old station wagon. "Did you enjoy yourself?" asked Ron, once the three of them were in the back seat and on their way back to Sirius's apartment.

"I had a great time," Harry laughed, leaning his head against Hermione's shoulder. "I did enjoy myself."

"Good. But you look exhausted." Said Hermione. "You should go on up to bed when we get home."

Harry smiled at her. "Actually, Hermione, I don't feel quite like going to sleep yet. I'm pretty awake as a matter of fact."

Ron and Hermione grinned at each other with delight. This was the best news they'd heard from Harry in ages.


	8. Chapter 8 Rest and Relaxation

Chapter 8 Rest and Relaxation

Harry sneezed loudly as soon as he woke up the next morning, startling both Hermione and Ron who were sharing his bedroom. Ron was just about to comment on it when he sneezed violently again. "Bless you." Said Hermione, groaning and struggling to sit up.

"Thanks." He blew his nose, causing each of his friends to grimace.

Yawning and stretching his arms over his head, Ron glanced at the clock on Harry's nighttable. "8:30. Geeze, Harry. Do your allergies work up this early in the morning?" He asked.

Harry glanced at him. "Sometimes earlier. Sorry, Ron. You two can go back to sleep."

"Good morning," Hermione whispered from where she lay beside Harry, and he grinned at her.

"Good morning." Harry replied. "Did you sleep well last night?"

"With your snoring?" asked Ron. "Pft-right."

"Oh shudup." Said Harry.

"Hey-Harry. This is your first day of being sixteen!" Hermione lay her head on his lap. "We should do something...maybe go to Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade! Or we can shop in muggle London..."

Harry shook his head, rubbing his itchy eyes. "I'm not feeling too good today, Hermione. I think I'd like to hang in bed for a bit." Harry admitted. "I'm so clogged up."

Ron sighed. He had been so hopeful that Harry would feel better following the party.

"Do you want me to get Sirius?" asked Hermone, checking her boyfriend's forehead for a temperature. "Well, the good news is you don't have a fever."

Harry sighed and lay back down on his pillows, closing his eyes again. Hermione took this as a sign to get Sirius, who was reading the morning paper in the kitchen. He was so engrossed in the material that he jumped when Hermione tapped him on the shoulder.

"Don't do that," He begged. "What's up?"

"Harry doesn't feel too good again," Hermione explained.

Sirius did not ask questions and immediately tossed the paper down on the table, and Hermione followed him into the bedroom.

"Where does it hurt, Harry?" Sirius asked, his voice trembling.

"My chest-and my sneezing's back again." Harry sneezed for the third time that morning, just for good measure. Sirius rubbed his chin and glanced at Ron who had stood up and was walking over to be beside Hermione. "I think I'll call the doctor and have him come to the apartment," Sirius suggested. "Harry-this has to stop. You have to get well, bud-your new term starts in less than a month and a half."

Harry coughed. "I'm sorry, Sirius. I know."

Hermione stroked Harry's hair. "But house calls are expensive, Sirius. Are you sure you can afford it?"

Sirius gave her a confident look. "I am sure I can afford it. I can afford anything when it comes to my godson. You two hang out with Harry in here and I'll use the phone in the kitchen. Just take it easy."

Harry watched as Sirius left before he coughed. "I'm sorry, you guys. I'm ruining everything."

Ron shook his head. "No you aren't, Harry. It's not your fault you're sick. At least we know this much-Voldemort is gone and he can't attack you this year again. You're just so weak from what happened to you last year."

Harry squeezed Hermione's hand before kissing it gently. "I'm so glad you're here with me," he whispered.

"Me too, love." She replied.

When Sirius came back into the room, he was smiling. "Dr. Wilson will be here in twenty minutes. Do any of you want cereal for breakfast or anything?"

"That's fine. What do you have?" asked Ron, following Sirius into the kitchen. Shaking her head, Hermione took a seat on the edge of Harry's bed.

"You were doing so well yesterday, Harry. Wonder what happened." She pondered as he dabbed at his nose with another tissue. He shrugged.

"Hermione-I'm wish I knew what is wrong with me." He looked at her suspiciously. "But can I ask you something?"

Hermione cocked her head to one side. "Always," she replied. "What is it?"

"Are you-this may sound rediculous-but are you disgusted with this whole thing? I haven't been too great of a boyfriend, with my being so sick. I'm sneezing on you all of the time, usually stuck in bed..."

Hermione smiled, tucking a strand of her thick brown hair behind on ear. "Harry-listen to me. I don't care about that. All that matters to me is that you're still with us. If I had lost you last year I don't know what I'd do."

That was all Harry needed to hear.

When Dr. Wilson arrived later that morning, Hermione, Ron and Sirius stood against the wall closest to the door while Harry had his check up. Dr. Wilson listened to Harry's breathing, his heart, checked his pulse, his temperature and his pupils. After a few moments of silence, Sirius spoke up. "What is it, Doctor?"

"Well, it appears to be allergies, primarily. The pollen rate IS high today, so I'm afraid he'll be sneezing and coughing quite often. I would suggest staying indoors and doing quiet activities such as boardgames or watching television. Otherwies, there isn't much more you can do for him at this time."

Hermione reached down and took Ron's hand in hers, needing something to hold. She smiled when she felt him squeeze it gently, and then turned back to Sirius, who looked ready to cry. "Thank you, sir," he replied, paying the doctor what he owed, and seeing him off. Hermione and Ron watched as Harry settled against the pillows in his bed, absolutely miserable.

"I'm sorry, mate," Ron said after a few moments, and Harry turned to look at him.

"Not your fault," he replied, and Hermione smiled.

"Do you want us to stay in here, or do you need peace and quiet? Ron and I can entertain ourselves in the living room," she promised, and Harry yawned again, reaching his hand out to squeeze her arm.

"If you don't mind?" he replied, and she gave him another kiss, this one lasting a bit longer than the others, and Ron made his way towards the door.

"Not at all," Hermione promised. "Just get some sleep. I'm sure you'll start feeling better in the morning." she gave Ron an encouraging nudge, and the two of them headed into the living room. Sirius sat watching as Hedwig stood on the coffee table, ruffling her clean, white wings and staring at him through yellow eyes, as though inquiring about her master.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked, after a few moments of silence, and Sirius gave a small sigh.

"I feel like I'm failing his parents," he admitted, and Ron sat down on the rocking chair, while Hermione took the spot next to Harry's godfather on the couch. "He's been getting sick ever since he came to live with me."

Hermione put a hand on Sirius' shoulder. "Don't feel like that," she begged. "Obviously whatever is happening to Harry is out of our control. But I'm sure once we're in school, Dumbledore will be able to help us. Maybe...do you think we should write him now?" she asked, and turned to Ron, who shrugged.

"I'm not sure if it's entirely necessary at this point," Sirius admitted. "Compared to earlier this summer, Harry's doing a little better. I'm sure Professor Dumbledore's on holiday somewhere himself."

Hermione giggled at the thought of the headmaster lying on a beach somewhere. She always wondered what the professors did during the summer; she was certain some of them remained at Hogwarts, preparing for the following term.

"Well, we'll just keep an eye on him until then," Hermione insisted. "Sirius, don't feel bad. You're doing everything you can; that's all Harry's parents could have asked for. It's certainly more than the Dursley's would have given him!" she shuddered, remembering Harry's horrible stories of life with his Aunt and Uncle. They'd been absolutely awful to him, which was ridiculous, because Harry was one of the sweetest boy's in the world.

"Thanks, Hermione," Sirius replied. "I just hate feeling helpless. I wanted to give Harry a good home, that's all." he smiled faintly, asking if either of them wanted something to drink or eat. Ron immediately agreed, and offered to go into the kitchen to conjure up some food. Hermione rolled her eyes; Ron was a living, breathing trash compactor. They heard Harry sneeze rather roughly from his bedroom, and Hermione blew out her breath.

"I really do hope Madame Pomfrey has some type of potion against allergies that he can take at school," she muttered, as Ron chewed on an apple thoughtfully.

"I'm sure she does," Sirius replied, noticing how dark it was getting. "You two should get to bed...it's been a long day."

Ron and Hermione glanced at each other; Ron was sleeping on the couch in the living room, because Harry shared Hermione's room while she spent time at Sirius' flat.

"It's better than using the floor in Harry's room," Sirius chuckled, and Ron grinned, nodding.

"I can sleep anywhere, really," he admitted, helping bring out a quilt and pillows. He said goodnight to Hermione, who headed into the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. Once she was dressed in her pajamas, she headed into Harry's dark room, grateful to find he was sleeping somewhat peacefully. She gently shook his shoulder, making him aware she was present, and he turned to smile at her.

"You okay?" he asked in a quiet voice, and she bent low to kiss him.

"Yes of course," she replied. "I'm just coming into bed, so can you move over a little?"

Harry chuckled and did so, allowing her to slide under the covers next to him. "Where's Ron sleeping?" he asked, and when she explained he was on the couch, Harry nodded in understanding.

"Love you," he whispered, before closing his eyes again, and Hermione smiled, wrapping her arms around him.

"You have no idea how much I love you," she replied, and he smiled.


	9. Chapter 9 Misunderstandings

Chapter 9 Misunderstandings

Harry remained in bed all the next afternoon and evening, much to the disappointment of Ron and Hermione, though they tried very hard not to show it. Hermione sat beside Harry trying to comfort him as best she could. When he was finally feeling better and sitting on the couch in the living room, Hermione explained the plans for the rest of the week. She and Ron were returning home on Saturday, so they could pack the rest of their clothes for school.

"Tomorrow we're all going to Diagon Alley to purchase our books, extra parchment and other supplies," said Hermione, sounding like a mother. "Sirius is right-we only have a few weeks left and I'd like to get my books right away so..."

"You can start studying before classes even start?" asked Ron with a roll of his eyes. " Good grief, Hermione. You're unbelievable do you know that?"

Harry sneezed but neither Hermione or Ron paid him any mind. "At least I always make full marks in school!"

"I don't do badly either!" Ron snapped.

"You scrape by, Ron!"

"Guys-stop it. You're giving me a headache." Harry grumbled, massaging his forehead. Hermione turned to him.

"Sorry."

Sirius had gone into the kitchen to make each of them mugs of tea, and handed Harry one, offering honey.

"Thanks, Sirius," Harry replied, gratefully sipping from the hot liquid. Tea was something he could take or leave, but it was soothing when he wasn't feeling well.

"Hermione wants to go to Diagon Alley to get school things tomorrow," he began, once his other friends were drinking. "Could we?" He asked, his eyes hopeful.

Sirius cocked his head and gave his godson the once-over. "We'll see how you're feeling, Harry. If you're feeling up to it, then I don't see why not. It's always good to beat the rush-good thinking, Hermione. Now-what would the three of you like for supper?"

They shrugged. "Not really hungry," Harry admitted. "Just soup and crackers would be all right for me."

"Whatever you want, Sirius." Said Hermione. "I'm not a picky eater."

"Hot dogs," said Ron. "Cheeseburgers, steak, potatoes-all are fine with me." Sirius laughed, promising he would look into the freezer or refridgerator and see what was availible. This was another change Harry enjoyed; he'd never been allowed to touch anything in the kitchen while living with his Aunt and Uncle. Now, he could eat whatever he want whenever he fancied, and Sirius always made sure he had his godson's favorite foods in store.

"Carnivore!" Hermione snipped. Ron stuck his tongue out at her and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"All right, you two, chill out." Sirius laughed. "How about I make you two some steak and baked potatoes?"

"Sure!" said Hermione.

"Good. We'll eat around 6:30-7:00 then. And you just want soup and crackers, Harry?" Sirius looked back at his godson, who nodded.

"Yes. Thanks." Harry gave his nose a rub, and Hermione offered him a tissue. When he blew his nose, Ron suggested they play a game of Exploding Snap or Wizard's chess, to keep them occupied. Hermione went into the kitchen to offer Sirius help with dinner, and Harry smiled when he heard his girlfriend and guardian chatting away comfortably. Ron dealt the cards on the table, and the two of them began a game, which they hadn't played in a while. Harry was thankful to have his mind off of his misery for the time being, and smirked when Hermione would peer into the living room everytime a card exploded.

At dinnertime, they sat in the living room working their way through the meat pies Sirius cooked, and Harry sipped from his bowl of soup.

Afterwards, Hermione read from one of the books she'd gotten that summer, her head resting on Harry's lap, and enjoyed as he stroked her hair. Ron had Sirius tell him stories of all the pranks the Marauders pulled during their years at Hogwarts, and soon all four of them were rolling on the ground with laughter.

"Believe me," Sirius chuckled, "the stuff you three got into is nothing."

Harry coughed, giving Hermione a confident look when she asked if he was all right, and pulled her to him in a hug. Ron realized as he sat there watching his two friends cuddle, how badly he missed Lavender. He had enjoyed her surprise visit to his house before Harry's birthday party very much, and wished she wasn't taking a last minute trip to the seashore before school started.

"You'll see her soon enough, Ron," Harry promised, and Ron grinned sadly.

"Yeah," he replied.

Much to Hermione's relief, Harry looked a lot better the following morning. Sirius agreed to take the trio to Diagon Alley, and kept pestering Harry about how he was feeling. "I'm FINE," Harry lied. He, in truth, was still very tired, but the doctor had been right-the medicine did help ease the symptoms. He hadn't sneezed once all morning and was very pleased by that at least.

"Speaking of which," said Sirius, "These arrived late last night. I almost forgot to give them to you." He handed each of the kids their Hogwarts letters. "Dumbledore knows you're here, Ron."

"He always knows where we are. It's spooky." Ron chortled. "He must have known we were deciding to go today."

"Well let's go then," said Hermione, after glancing over her letter. "Give me that." She took Harry's hand in hers. They were going by Floo powder, as Sirius knew the drill. Harry was glad Sirius had managed to find an apartment with a fireplace, or they would have been stuck using muggle transportation. Though the wizard villiage was literally ten minutes away, Harry didn't think he could make it on foot.

"You two are going to have to part for a few moments," Sirius laughed at Hermione and Harry, who were still holding hands by the time they were situated.

"Can't we go together?" asked Harry.

"Yes! As long as we're joined like this he won't get lost," Hermione insisted.

Sirius looked at Ron who sniggered. "All right, all right. You two are inseperable." Sirius told them to go first, and Hermione took the powder into her hand. "DIAGON ALLEY!" She shouted loudly and clearly and the familiar green flames engulfed them. Soon they found themselves standing right in front of Flourish and Botts, and Harry grinned, pleased. He remembered during his second year when he'd first tried the Floo powder and had wound up in Knockturn Alley, because he han't spoken clearly enough. Soon after they'd arrived, Sirius and Ron did, and they stood in a group for a moment. Diagon Alley was not too crowded yet-a few random early shoppers like Hermione, but no large crowds.

"Let's hit Gringotts first," said Hermione. "Because clearly we won't be able to buy our things without money."

Ron swallowed nervously-he hated going to his vault with Harry and Hermione, for it was so empty. Hermione didn't have loads of money, but she had enough to get her through all seven terms at Hogwarts (her parents were upper middle-class, and both were dentists). Harry, however, had inherited a large fortune from his mother and father, and never had to worry about running out anytime soon.

"Your hands are cold," Hermione whispered to Harry. "Are you SURE you're feeling all right? You're not just lying to make me happy, are you?"

Harry shook his head. "I'm fine, Hermione. Stop worrying."

She gave him the once over. "Because if you are lying to me, Harry, I'll kick you in the butt."

Harry elbowed Ron in the shoulder when he laughed.

They headed to the enormous, goblin-run building and were taken to the vaults under the bank by Griphook. Once their money bags were filled, they hurried to the bookshop. Harry glanced down his school list: Standard Book of Spells Grade 6, More 1000 Magical Herbs and Fungi for the Advanced Student, etc. Harry watched as Hermione parted from him and began walking down one of the old, musty isles searching for her books. Sirius stood talking to the store owner, and Ron stood with Harry.

"Are you sure you're all right, mate?" he asked. "You still look tired."

"I'm FINE. Stop pestering-you're starting to sound like Sirius." Harry groaned inwardly. He decided to go down a separate isle with the direction of the shopkeeper of where to find his texts. As he was searching for his Defense Against the Dark Arts book, he felt a wave of dizziness and had to lean against the shelf till his world tipped itself upright again. He could see Hermione and Ron whispering along the back wall of the store when he glanced between the shelves, and felt guilty for having slightly lied to Hermione about how he was feeling. She cared about him, and he was just being stupid. Straightening up to look healther, Harry pulled out the book he needed and headed back into the open store. Sirius was still talking to the shopkeeper, and turned his head when he noticed Harry standing still not more than two feet away.

"You all right there, Harry?" Sirius asked with concern.

Sirius unconsciously placed a hand against Harry's forehead, checking for a fever. "Are you sure you're all right? You seem so tired today."

Harry gave Sirius a look. "Will you stop worrying?"

When they got their books, the trio and Sirius made their way outside. The bright sunlight nearly blinded Harry, and caused him to squint. "Let's go and eat lunch or something," said Ron. "I'm hungry."

"Harry doesn't look so good-I think we should go home," said Hermione.

"No, no. Let's go eat." Harry insisted, wrapping his arm around her waist. She leaned against his shoulder, smiling to herself as they headed for The Leaky Cauldron. It felt better to be in a dim place, and Harry was grateful to sit down. He sat his bag of textbooks beside him and watched as Ron and Hermione sat down.

"I'm starved," Ron laughed when the landlord, Tom, handed each of them menus.

"Good to see you again, Mr. Potter. Have you had a nice summer holiday so far?"

Harry shrugged. "Well enough." He admitted.

Tom took their drink orders and then told them he'd return to ask them what they wanted to eat. Sirius, who sat beside Harry, gazed in his menu. "Hmmm. Everything looks so good."

Harry decided on a bowl of lamb stew and set his menu on the table before looking at Hermione who sat directly across from him. "What are you getting?" he asked curiously. She shrugged.

"Might get a hamburger but I can't decide."

When they gave Tom their food orders, they fell into quiet conversation. "So you decided to take Muggle Studies this year, eh?" Hermione laughed as she saw the book sticking out of his bag. He shoved it back in and glared at her.

"So what if I am?" He asked.

"No, no-it's good! You should take Muggle Studies. It's helpful."

Ron shrugged. Harry reached over and took Hermione's hand, and kissed it. She blushed. "Your hands are cold, Harry." She pointed out, rubbing them. "You should wear gloves from now on."

Ron snorted. "In the middle of the summer? You nuts? So anyway-yes, I'm taking Muggle Studies. Dad convinced me-he's so into them you know, and wanted me to learn as much as I could so I could enlighten him on how their objects worked. He was so confused over how to work a coffee grinder he'd gotten from work, and Mum was ready to turn him into a toad because he was on her nerves!"

Hermione giggled but jumped when Harry covered his mouth and sneezed loudly. "Bless you." She said and Ron raised an eyebrow when Harry sneezed a second time.

"Thanks." He cleared his throat and rested his head in his arms on the table.

"Here are your orders-Mr. Potter, are you all right?" Tom asked, and Harry quickly lifted his head.

"Oh-sorry. Yeah." He accepted his soup with thanks and ignored the suspicious glanced from Ron, Hermione and Sirius as he started eating.

"I'd hate to tell you this, Harry," said Ron, "But you're a real ass when you're sick."

Harry nearly choked on a mouthful of soup. "What?" He asked in surprise. "How do I act like an ass?"

"You're rediculously stubborn!" said Hermione.

"Whose side are you on?" Harry snapped at her.

Hermione took his hands. "Harry. We care about you. If you're not feeling well, tell us. You don't have to lie to make me happy. I love you."

Harry stood up. "God-I don't need this right now. Excuse me." He headed out of the resturaunt, leaving the others in surprise.

Ron coughed. "That went well." He replied.

Sirius looked at Hermione whose chin trembled a bit, and he decided to let Harry be for a little bit. "He needs to cool off, Hermione. It's been a rough few weeks for him."

"But I just don't want him hurting himself," She snapped. "He's going to wind up in the hospital again if he keeps this attitude up!"

Outside, Harry leaned against the wall outside of the pub and just gazed at the cobblestone beneath his feet. He hated being a burden to everyone around him, but he felt so helpless sometimes. Fighting the urge to cry, Harry kicked at a random stone and watched as it rolled to the middle of the street. He didn't notice when Hermione came outside to find him. "Hey." She announced and he jumped, looking up.

"Hey." He replied.

She leaned against the wall beside him and for a while neither of them spoke. "You know I worry about you, Harry. I'm your girlfriend and it's my job."

He looked at her. "I know you worry. You shouldn't. I can take care of myself, Hermione. I'm sixteen now."

She nodded. "I know that. We all do. But you're sick, and there are times when you do need us."

Harry felt another wave of dizziness and had to steady himelf against Hermione's arm. Suddenly his world was spinning and he felt a tightness in his chest. " 'M sorry," he whispered, before darkness clouded his mind.

"HARRY!" Hermione watched as her boyfriend crumpled to the ground in a heap at her feet, and she knelt down beside him, stroking his hair. "HARRY-WAKE UP!" She shook his shoulders and watched in horror as his head lolled limply. "SIRIUS!" She stood and rushed into the pub. "It's Harry! He's fainted!"

Sirius nearly knocked over his drink when he stood up. "Jesus. Come on, Ron. Tom! Prepare a room for us, will you?" Sirius burst outside to aid his godson.


	10. Chapter 10 Fever

Chapter 11  
Fever  
  
A/N: Again, thank you so much for your lovely reviews! *blushes & then bows* trust me, i dont discourage easily over flames, though i have been flamed NASTILY before, but that didn't stop me from writing. :o) every writer gets some criticism after all, & they just have to put up with that. anyway--i wrote this while @ work (during the dead times since I work in retail--Hallmark to be precise & it's getting towards our busy season but we do have some down time) & hope you like it! Again, any feedback is welcome!  
  
  
  
  
Sirius lifted Harry's unconscious form into his arms, and rushed the boy into the pub. Hermione was in tears as she followed them upstairs to theroom Tom had set up. "He's burning,' said Hermione, taking her boyfriend's hand between her own, and grimaced as his skin felt like it was on fire. "We may have to get him to a hospital, Sirius."  
  
Sirius felt his godsons' forehead, noting how sweatsoaked Harry's hair was.   
  
"We ought to contact Professor Dumbledore," said Ron, aiding Sirius as Harry was placed into bed and covered with just a sheet. "He may know what to do. He usually does."  
  
Harry moaned, and his eyes fluttered open.   
  
"I wish you had told me that you didn't feel good," Hermione whispered, kissing him.   
  
Harry closed his eyes again and felt very dizzy. This feeling caused his stomach to churn and before he could prevent from doing so, Sirius had the waste basket under his head and he began to throw up. Hermione rubbed his back until the fit ended, feeling horrible for him. Harry gasped and lifted his head.  
  
"It's all right, sweetheart." Hermione whispered, letting Harry lean against her shoulder.   
  
"Tom--could you spare us an owl?" asked Sirius. "I need to send an emergency message to Dumbledore."  
  
Tom nodded. "Certainly sir." He hurried off to get the owl and left Sirius, Ron and Hermione with Harry.   
  
" 'M-sorry," Harry whispered hoarsely, unable to fight back his tears.   
  
Hermione looked at Ron who stood on the opposite side of his friend's bed. "It's okay, mate." Ron insisted. "Don't worry about it.   
  
"I'm going to go and empty this," Sirius told them, wrinkling his nose as he lifted the trashcan. "Hold a fresh one by him in case he has to get sick again. I think there's a trashcan in the bathroom too. Ron, go and get that."  
  
Ron obeyed and Sirius hurried downstairs to toss the contents of the wastepaper basket into the dumpster in the back of the store. When he returned, he quickly scribbled a note to Dumbledore:  
  
Professor Dumbledore,  
  
Bad news--Harry is very sick and we are in Diagon Alley. He fainted outside of the Leaky Cauldron and Tom very kindly took us into one of the open rooms. We need your help--perhaps you can provide us with a quick and easy way to get to Hogwarts that would not be too taxing for Harry. Anything you could do would be appreciated.  
  
Thank You,  
Sirius  
  
He read the letter aloud and Hermione nodded in approval, just as Tom returned with a scrawny-looking barn owl with gray and white feathers. "Here yeh are. She should run just fine. I'd just keep Harry in bed and blott his face with a damp rag. This is the first time I've had sick 'uns in my pub, but if you need anything, don hesitate to ask."  
  
Sirius smiled as he tied the note around the owls' leg. "Thank you. We appreciate that very much." He replied, and sent the owl out the window. "Harry usually likes a nice mug of camomile tea once his stomach calms down, so could you go and make one?"  
  
"Of course." Tom hurried back out again.   
  
Hermione watched Harry drift back to sleep, and turned to Sirius, her eyes filling with tears yet again. "What is happening to him?" She whispered. "Voldemort's gone--"  
  
"YOU-KNOW-WHO," Ron snapped.   
  
"Oh come now. He's dead, Ron--we can say "Voldemort" now." Sirius chuckled, ruffling Ron's head of flaming red hair.   
  
"Oh fine."  
  
"And if you don't mind my saying so," Hermione added, "You said the word Voldemort quite a few times last year without thinking."  
  
Ron turned crimson. "I did not," he snapped.   
  
"You did so."  
  
"That's enough. We have to think of Harry here." Sirius told them with warning looks.   
  
"Right--sorry." Hermione turned to look at Harry's pale face. "I just wish we could help him. He's in so much pain." She caressed his forehead and cheek with her fingertips and then lowered her head so that she could whisper in his ear. "I love you so much, Harry. We're here for you." She was pleased when she saw a small smile appear on Harry's lips, which meant he had heard what she said. All of his life, Harry had been mistreated by his Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon and cousin Dudley (his only living relatives). They always thought he was just one big burden to them, and the fact that he was a wizard turned them even further away. Now he had people who cared and he was very happy.   
  
Sirius filled a bowl with water and took a washcloth from the bathroom, and sat down beside Harry on the bed. "Let's see if we can't draw the fever from his head. This usually helps a little bit, or else we'll have to give him ice baths again. And that is not something I would like to experience a second time."  
  
When Harry had come down with bronchitis earlier that summer, his temperature had gone up to 103.5, and the nurse at the hospital had drawn an ice-water bath. They had lowered Harry's boiling body into it and he had cried in protest several times, and the cries turned to yells and then he had gone slack and silent--they had almost lost him. But Ice water baths were one of the only ways to get a fever down, especially since Madame Pomfrey's cooling potion was not availible at the time.   
  
"Poor kid," Sirius sighed. "We're going to help you get better, bud. Just hang in there for us." He begged. 


	11. Chapter 11 Port Keys

Chapter 11  
Port Keys

A telegram from Hogwarts arrived a few hours later and it said that Dumbledore was on his way immediately. "He's going to provide us with a portkey," Sirius told Hermione and Ron, who were sitting on either side of Harry's bed. Harry was still sleeping but his forehead had crinkled as though he were in great pain. Harry had thrown up again about fifteen minutes after the first fit, and had passed out following that.

Around suppertime, Dumbledore arrived at The Leaky Cauldron holding an old, torn up boot in his hand. "Good evening, Tom." He greeted the Pub owner, who tipped his hat.

"Good evening, Professor Dumbledore. Harry is upstairs and is doing quite poorly I believe."

Dumbledore hurried to the room and entered. "Harry." He came over to the sick bed and touched the boy's cheek. "How long has he been ill like this? All day?"

Hermione shook her head. "Just since lunchtime, which was around 1-1:30 for us I think."

The headmaster nodded. "Well--he is burning up. Madame Pomfrey provided me with this cooling potion to hold him over till we get him to Hogwarts."

Ron looked at Sirius with worry and then turned back to Dumbledore who was encouraging Harry to wake up. "I need you to take some of this, lad. It will help your fever."

"Can't," Harry sobbed. "I'll throw up again."

Hermione eased Harry into a sitting position and allowed him to lean against the headboard. She had never been around him when he had been so sick, and it scared her to see him so pale and thin. She kissed him gently on the cheek, and allowed Dumbledore to take over her spot on the bed so he could be in an easier position to give Harry the potion. He tipped the silver goblet to Harry's lips and eased it slowly so that the cool, bluish liquid seeped into his mouth. "There's a good boy." Dumbledore told Harry quietly. "Slow sips now."

Harry coughed when he finished the first mouthful, and tried to protest against another. "You must take it. It will help you feel better--I promise. Take as much time as you need."

It was only now that Hermione was aware of Ron's laughter and turned to stare. "What on Earth may I ask is so funny?" she asked in shock.

He stopped laughing long enough to take a breath. "I'm sorry--it's just the fact that we may loose Harry again--we've lost him almost four times already."

Sirius raised an eyebrow with a passionate shake of his head. "Are you feeling all right, Ron?" He asked with amusement, once the youngest Weasley boy calmed down enough. When Harry finished taking the cooling potion, Dumbledore eased the sick boy back against his pillows.

"Here is the portkey I am providing for you to get to Hogwarts. Did you buy all of your school things?"

"We got all of our books," said Hermione. "But we haven't gotten a chance to replenish or potion's supplies or quills, ink and parchment. We were hoping to get those things after lunch."

Dumbledore nodded. "I see. Well--I'll tell you what. I'll take Harry to Hogwarts with me right now, and Sirius--you can stay with hermione and Ron and get their things and pick up the rest of Harry's supplies for when he comes to and can return to classes. You still have three weeks left of the summer holiday, though. I'll leave a port key for you."

Hermione wanted to protest but Sirius nodded. "Sounds like a plan. We'll be there later tonight."

Dumbledore urged them out of the Leaky Cauldron and lifted Harry after setting the portkey in place on the floor. "Hold on, Mr. Potter." Dumbledore told Harry, and soon the room disappeared.

"I can't believe we're letting him go alone," Hermione told Sirius a half hour later. The three of them had gone into the Stationary Store to pick up spare ink, quills and parchment. "But wait--we don't have our trunks or our cauldrons! They're all at home!"

Ron smiled. "I'll owl my Mum and have her pick up our things. Don't panick, Hermione. You have your books." He winked at her.

"Oh shuddup."

Sirius nodded. "Send an owl to your Mum and get yours and Hermione's things. I'll head back to the apartment and pick up Harry's things later. I doubt he'll need them anytime soon."

Hermione glanced at the Quality Quidditch Supplies shop to her right and felt tears brimming in her eyes. That was one of Harry's favorite stores in Diagon Alley--he loved just gazing in the window at the different broomsticks. He had first spotted his precious Firebolt here, and Sirius had gotten it for him for his thirteenth birthday.

After picking up the last of their school supplies from their lists, Sirius took the portkey that Dumbledore had left for them and they disappeared to Hogwarts.


	12. Chapter 12 To the books

Chapter 12  
To the Books

Harry moaned softly when he felt something damp and cool touch his burning forehead. Professor Dumbledore stood in the corner of the hospital wing speaking to Professor's McGonagall and Lupin after he'd arrived with the sick boy. Madame Pomfrey sat beside Harry's bed blotting his face with a damp cloth and carefully administiring the cooling potion (Harry had thrown it up twice and it was beginning to get frustrating). "He is getting worse, Albus. Surely this is not some common Muggle flu that he's come down with."

"His body is not accepting any of our medicines," Professor Lupin added with a very worried expression on his face. "This constant vomiting is going to cause him to become very dehydrated and that could lead to even more damage."

Suddenly there was a flash of light and Ron, Sirius and Hermione appeared in the center of the room, all clutching the old, tattered boot with one hand. Everyone turned and Professor Dumbledore helped them up. "There you three are."

"How is he?" asked Sirius. "How is Harry?"

"He's been vomiting continuously and his fever is rising, Sirius. Professor McGonagall thinks that he is not inflicted with a normal muggle illness."

Hermione gasped and turned to face her boyfriend, who's skin was pale and his lips parched and cracked when he was not receiving medication. Sirius hurried over to stand on the opposite side of his godson's cot and placed his hand on top of Harry's. "I'm here, kid." He whispered.

"Mum--" Harry whimpered, his chin trembling.

Madame Pomfrey brushed a few stray bangs away from Harry's forehead. "We ought to wait this out. I'm sure it's just a bad stomach virus," Sirius suggested. "If he doesn't get well within a few days then we'll have to do a little research in the library."

Hermione's face lit up at the idea. "Of course--there must be SOME type of medical book for magical inflictions!"

Ron sniggered. "Of COURSE you'd get pumped up about doing research," he teased, trying to keep the mood light, but blushed to the tips of his ears when everyone gave him a warning look. "Sorry."

Professor McGonagall folded her arms. Though Harry was usually getting into trouble while he was at school, she still cared deeply about the child. He was, after all, the saviour of the wizarding world. Had he not vanquished Voldemort's powers the night his parents were killed, many of their kind would be dead as well. Hermione chewed on her lower lip in thought. "I wonder," She began in a quiet tone, "whether Harry's illness may have SOMETHING to do with Voldemort's death."

"YOU-KNOW-WHO," Ron hissed.

"Mr. Weasley," Professor Dumbledore spoke up, "Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself. Do not fear to say Voldemort's real name, especially since he is gone now."

Ron sighed. "I know--it just--it still frightens me. I keep thinking he may not really be dead and maybe I only sent him to another country for the time being."

Hermione smiled but the other's didn't. Professor Dumbledore turned to Sirius, who was stroking Harry's sweat-soaked hair. "Unfortunately, Sirius, Ronald could be correct. Voldemort was a very powerful wizard. We thought he was gone when Harry destroyed his powers fifteen years ago."

"But he wasn't." Professor McGonagall shuddered. "If that is the case, then our dear Harry is in great danger. Miss Granger--since you seem to take such pleasure in it, would you take Mr. Weasley with you to the library and ask Madame Pince if she has any books on magical illnesses? Anything you can find will be helpful. Here is a pass from me--you may go into the restricted section if you must do so to find what you are looking for."

Hermione nodded. "Of course, Professor McGonagall." She turned to Ron who looked ready to vomit himself at the thought of tackling another research project, but one look at Harry changed his mind.

"Let's go." The two of them hurried out of the hospital wing and down the dim corridor. The candles along the walls flickered with the wind they produced. "So you're thinking I really did not kill Voldemort?" Ron asked in a whisper.

"I can't be sure, Ron." Hermione told him. "The idea that you of all people killed him seemed a bit unrealistic. You may have weakened him again, but there are ways he can come back. He has before."

"And Harry is sick like this--"

"The entire wizarding world is at stake." Hermione finished.

They burst into the old library, much to the annoyance of the librarian, who stood and hollered at them for making such a racket and asked them what in the name of heaven they were doing at school during the summer holidays and that Professor Dumbledore would have their heads if she told him. Hermione handed Madame Pince the note from Professor McGonagall, and the librarian immediately did a double-take. "I--I see." She stuttered. "I'm sorry then--go on. I am sure there is something you may find in such a clutter."

"Thank you, Madame Pince." Hermione replied. "I think we ought to try the restricted section first. There is always plenty of material there to search through."

Ron nodded and they made their way to the door that lead to that section of the library. As it was the summertime, the school was so silent that they could practically hear a pin drop. Hermione searched through the alphabetized books on one side, using her index finger and Ron searched the other side. After nearly ten minutes, both of them pulled out large, leatherbound books at the same time and knocked headstrong into each other in a frenzy. "Ron!" Hermione snapped. "What did you find?"

"Potentially Deadly Effects from Curses," Ron whispered, showing Hermioine the front cover. "Written by Mungo Magshot in 1990. How about you?"

"Ailments and Cures by Herman Ashkway in 1904. Both look perfect."

The two of them sat down and opened the books, glancing at the indexes. "Let's see." Ron leaned his chin in his palm. "Ah ha--jackpot. Voldemort, Lord--page 312. I'm sure Harry is in this book." Hermione shoved her book aside and leaned forward to listen to what Ron had found.

Back in the hospital wing, Harry was in the midst of another vomiting session, but it was mostly dry heaves as he had not eaten anything within the past four hours. When he lifted his head away from the wastebasket, Sirius noticed that sweat was pouring down his cheeks and forehead. "Toast water," Madame Pomfrey told him. "That is a muggle remedy for nausea. It is usually helpful when other things won't stay down, and he is not responding to any of our attempts. Are you finished, Harry dear?"

Harry choked on a sob and nodded, and Sirius set the wastebasket on the floor before easing his godson back under the covers. "I hope Hermione and Ron have found something. I will do anything to make Harry well, even if it means sacrificing myself to Voldemort to do so."

Professor Dumbledore placed a weathered hand on Sirius's shoulder. "That is a very noble thing to say, Sirius, and I am sure James Potter would have been very pleased to hear that you cared so much about his son."

"Harry needs his parents now more than ever," Professor McGonagall told the headmaster, her voice quavering. "I would bring them back if I had the power to do so. He needs his mother's comfort. It is such a terrible tragedy that they had to die when he was so young."

"He needs a mother's comfort," Sirius agreed. "Molly Weasley. We ought to contact her."

"She could be of some help I am sure." Professor Lupin agreed with Sirius's idea. "We ought to contact her using the fire. She could aid Harry through his delirium. It will be painful to do--very emotional but--"

Suddenly the door to the hospital wing flew open and Ron and Hermione burst in. "We've found something! We've found something!" They cried.


	13. Chapter 13 The Hloke Curse

Chapter 13 The Hloke Curse

Professor McGonagall hurried over to the two teenagers and found that Hermione held a large, musty book. Hermione brought it over to Sirius and opened it to the last chapter of the book. When she opened the front cover, a small cloud of dust formed and Harry sneezed, his eyes opening in surprise. "Harry-I'm sorry." Hermione whispered, handing him a tissue. Due to the effects of the fever, Harry didn't reply but tried to get comfortable again.

"Here it is." Said Ron, pointing to the paragraph. "Anyone who manages to stand up to the strong powers of Lord Voldemort..."

Harry sneezed again, and Hermione moved the book over to another empty cot. "It's the dust," She told Sirius with a sigh. "I forgot he's allergic to it."

Sirius patted her on the shoulder and urged Ron to continue reading. "Anyone who manages to stand up to the strong and potentially fatal powers of the dark Lord Voldemort, will be inflicted by Hloke Curse. The most visible sign that the person has been infected is a thin, lightening shaped scar. ("Harry has that!" Hermione cried) The curse may not take immediate effect on the victim and the symptoms may not appear till almost five years following the application. Symptoms include those similar to the common cold or flu: sneezing, coughing, high fever and vomiting, but the illness will progress quickly and eventually seize the life of the victim. (Hermione covered her mouth with her hands) The Hloke curse can only be broken by a special potion, found only in the mountains of Siberia, produced by the enchanter Mercelo Morbin."

Ron sighed when he finished reading the paragraph and wrapped an arm around Hermione, whose eyes filled with tears. "That's that then." He shut the book and set it on the bed. "Voldemort gave Harry the Hloke curse fifteen years ago. It has been contained in the scar on his forehead."

Hermione suddenly felt very sick to her stomach and immediately made a bee-line for the bathroom. Soon after everyone could hear the faint sound of retching, and Sirius rubbed his face with his hand, glancing at Harry. When Hermione came out of the bathroom, she was sweating and trembling, and was immediately comforted by Professor McGonagall. "Not to worry, dear. We'll think of something."

Professor Dumbledore appeared to be in deep thought. "I will not let Harry die this way." Hermione sobbed. "He can't die." She hurried to his bedside and wrapped her arms around his limp body. "Please sweetheart-you have to fight."

Professor Lupin turned to the headmaster. "I have an idea, Headmaster! Perhaps if we sent someone to Siberia using a portkey-they could find the enchanter and get Harry's medicine." He was eyeing Ron and Hermione, and immediately Ron stepped back, his face now very pale with fear. "Ohhhh no. Not us! Hermione and I are just kids-what about you and Sirius?"

The Hogwarts staff continued to stare at him and Hermione gulped.

"If you do not mind my saying so, Mr. Weasley," Professor Lupin began, "Every year the three of you have managed to entangle yourselves willingly into problems surrounding Hogwarts. You rescued the Sorcerer's Stone during your first year, you saved Ginny from the clutches of Voldemort in the Chamber of Secrets during your second year, and you..."

"Rescued me in your third," Sirius broke in with a smile. "And I remember only two well the triwizard tournament during your fourth year."

"The Triwizard tournament was not our fault, Sirius," Hermione defended herself. "His name was put into the goblet without his knowing."

"Well minus that then. But the three of you show a great amount of bravery-that is what Gryffindor is all about after all."

Hermione trembled. "So let me get this straight. You want the two of us to go to Siberia to find this potentially-still-alive enchanter and bring back medicine for Harry?"

"Yes." Said Professor Dumbledore.

"We'll do it." Hermione replied. "It'll be very risky, but we can't loose Harry. We just can't."

Professor Dumbledore nodded. "I am glad you agree, Miss Granger."

Ron looked ready to cry and was making rediculous whimpering noises, only to be silenced when Hermione elbowed him in the shoulder. "OW!" Ron snapped.

"Your loyalty will aid you," Professor Dumbledore added. "We will immediately put the quest into effect. You will leave for the mountains of Siberia tomorrow night, so I suggest you pack plenty of warm things."

Hermione grabbed Ron's arm and the two of them bolted for the Gryffindor Common room.

_**A/N: The word "Hloke" means "Serpant" but is actually a word in J.R.R. Tolkien's Elvish language (Quenya). I thought it fit perfectly because Voldemort was Slytherin's heir (remember Tom Marvelo Riddle in The Chamber of Secrets and the Basilisk?), and the mascot for Slytherin is a serpant. **_


	14. Chapter 14 Moments Alone

Chapter 14 Moments Alone

Eventually, Hermione managed to convince the others that she wanted to spend some time with Harry by herself. Sirius started to object but was cut off by Professor McGonagall, who held up her hand. "That is a good idea. Sometimes for the sick to have someone they are very close to around them, and too many of us in the same room at one time with him may be a bit exhausting to take in."

"Thank you, Professor." Hermione replied with a small smile as she cupped Harry's hand in her own and massaged it. The fact that he didn't make any motion back was very strange, but Hermione knew that the fever was the cause of that. He was too weak to respond.

"Good night, Miss Granger. Don't hesitate to ask if you need anything or if Harry needs anything."

The adults and Ron (after hugging Hermione and promising that everything was going to be all right) left Hermione alone in the room, and it grew very quiet. The only noise that could be heard was the summer breeze whistling along the castle walls and Harry's laboured breathing. Siberia. This would be their most challenging adventure yet, and she hated to admit it, but she was scared to death and there was a little feeling in the back of her mind saying that it was an impossible task, and to let someone else go through with it.

"No," She spoke aloud to no one in particular. Harry's green eyes blinked open and he took his free hand and rubbed his forehead.

"Hermione?" He asked weakly, coughing.

She gasped. "Ooh-I'm sorry, Harry-I didn't mean to wake you. I was just thinking out loud. How are you feeling?" She gave him a kiss. "We found out what was wrong with you, though I'm not sure you'd want to know right now."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "You what?"

"We had to go through some books in the library. Madame Pomfrey's Peperup isn't working at all and neither is the cooling potion. To keep you hydrated she had to give you toast water and you were barely awake when you drank it."

Harry smiled weakly. "Some summer, huh?" he asked.

She tried to appear cheerful, but the tears just came without warning. Harry, feeling horrible about making her cry, pulled her close to him. "Shhhh-sweetheart. Everything is going to be all right. Don't cry, love." He kissed the top of her head.

"I can't loose you, Harry. I just can't." Hermione whispered. "You have a fatal illness, Harry." She lifted her head. "Ron found out that your symptoms are identical to those of the Hloke curse."

Harry had a hard time taking in the news. A fatal illness? Hloke Curse? "What are you talking about? What's the Hloke curse? Hermione-calm down and explain that to me."

Hermione took a deep breath. "The Hloke curse is caused when one stands up to the Lord Voldemort-and the sign that it is there is a lightening shaped scar. The illness doesn't start to make an appearance till at least five years from the time of the attack-I'm paraphrasing from the medical book. Harry-the only way to help you is if Ron and I go to Siberia to get your medicine."

Harry's eyes bulged. "No-no-that's too dangerous for you! How do they plan to get you to Siberia?"

"Portkey." Hermione sobbed. "Oh Harry-I shouldn't have told you that- I shouldn't have told you any of it." She started to cry again.

Harry caressed her cheek with his frail hand, brushing a few strands of hair out of her face, and only stopped when she clutched his hand in her own again, placing her lips against it. Harry suddenly let go of her, covered his mouth with both hands and sneezed violently twice. "Bless you." Whispered Hermione.

"Stupid allergies." Harry sniffed and reached for a tissue on the nightstand. "What's with my sneezing in pairs?"

Hermione laughed a little and shrugged, glad that he was a bit more alert at the moment. Not for long, however. "I think I'm going back to sleep. I'm getting a massive headache." Harry told her. "Are you staying with me tonight?" He added after bundling under the blankets. She nodded.

"Yes. I'm staying right here with you."

"Make sure you get some sleep too." He encouraged. "You don't want to catch whatever I have."

He didn't seem to understand that the disease was not contagious, but she just played along with him. "Yes, Harry. I promise I'll lay down for a bit, but later. You just rest now." She kissed him once more before watching his eyes close.

Hermione was true to her word-she sat with him the entire night, resting for about two hours in one of the other cots.

Early the next morning she was awoken by a soft shake of the shoulders. "Go away." She mumbled, waving her hand.

"Hermione, dear-it's Mrs. Weasley. Wake up, poppet."

Hermione opened her eyes and turned her head, blinking until her world came into focus. "Mrs. Weasley? What are you doing here?" She asked.

"I've brought your trunks and your other things. And Professor Dumbledore thought it would be a good idea if I helped them with Harry."

Harry. Hermione realized the bed Harry had been lying in was empty.

"Where is he?" she cried, jumping up. "What did you do with him?"

"Calm down-he's getting a sponge bath in bathroom-his fever escalated this morning."

Hermione took a deep breath of relief. "What is his temperature?"

"One hundred and three, Hermione."

Hermione choked on a sob. "But he was better-well-a little at least- last night. We were talking for about ten minutes or so before he went back to sleep."

Mrs. Weasley nodded. "Fevers are tricky that way. Now dear-go and get some rest. You and Ron have a long couple of days ahead of you."

Hermione cocked her head-she had no idea what Mrs. Weasley was talking about.

"Going to Siberia?"

"Oh-right." She laughed nervously. "I-I was hoping it was all a terrible dream-that Harry just had a bad cold and would be fine today. I'd better go and fnish packing-thank you for bringing our things."

"You're welcome. Ron is in the boy's dormitory-rather upset."

"Over Harry?"

Mrs. Weasley nodded. "It's been hard for him this summer-getting over loosing a brother, his best friend falling so sick. Go and comfort him- he'll need you."

Hermione smiled before hurrying up to the Gryffindor tower.

In the bathroom, Sirius knelt down beside the tub and held Harry's hand tightly while Madame Pomfrey sponged his naked body down with a washcloth. The water was luke warm, but to Harry it was like ice. He was too weak to cry out but whimpered anytime the water touched his skin. "Sirius-help me," Harry whispered hoarsley.

"Shhhh." Madame Pomfrey soothed. "Just a little bit longer, love."

Professor Dumbledore had provided them with a lavender oil to help ease Harry's breathing in the tub.

Five minutes later, Harry was lifted out of the tub and wrapped in towels. Sirius held the sick boy close to him, letting Harry lean his head against his shoulder. Normally Harry would have protested against this action-he hated being picked up for any reason, and that was perfectly normal for a teenager, but he was too sick to walk on his own and too weak to protest.

They carried Harry back to the hospital wing and placed him in a t- shirt and a pair of boxers only before putting him back into bed and covering him with just a white sheet.

"They must leave as soon as possible," Sirius told Madame Pomfrey, touching Harry's hot cheek with his hand. "If his fever continues to escalate like this he may not make it."

"I'll contact Professor Dumbledore. As far as I know, Ron and Hermione are sleeping at the moment-both exhausted."

"I know, I know. We'll wake them up. This has to be taken care of now."

So they sent for the headmaster, who appeared rather disgruntled. He clearly had not been sleeping well either-probably pacing around his office all night, but was very keen on having Ron and Hermione wake up and take the trip right away. "Time must not be wasted," he told Professor Lupin who had arrived to the hospital wing moments later, followed by Professor McGonagall.

"Shall I go and wake them, Albus?" Professor McGonagall asked quietly.

"Yes." He replied simply, and she bustled off to the common room, returning with a very miserable-looking Ron and Hermione-tossle-haired and sleepy-eyed.

"It is time," Professor Dumbledore told them gravely. "Follow me."


	15. Chapter 15 Siberia

Chapter 15  
Siberia

Hermione and Ron followed Professor Dumbledore to the Quidditch field, where they were transported before to Romania and a beat-up frisbee lay on the ground. "This is the port key for Siberia." Dumbledore told them seriously. "You two have used it before so you know what to do. Correct?"

They nodded. "Professor--what if Marcelo Morbin isn't alive? I mean--he's got to be at least 100, right?"

"One never knows." Dumbledore replied. "Even if he is not alive, I am certain he has a stash of the ingredients for the potion in his cabin. Now--enough talk and get into position."

In her mind, Hermione thought 'I love you, Harry. Please hang on for us--we'll do the best we can.' She felt Ron's fingertips touch hers as he took hold of the frisbee, and both nodded to the headmaster. "We're ready, Professor." Hermione whispered.

Dumbledore began chanting a spell and suddenly Hogwarts disappeared completely from sight.

They were flying at lightening speed through a thick darkness, and just when Hermione thought she was going to be sick, the motion stopped. She was almost afraid to open her eyes, but heard Ron's "Bloody hell!" and did so anyway. They were standing on a snow-covered cliff, connected to an enormous chain of mountains. It took a few moments for Hermione to actually feel the biting cold against her face.

"This is a really bad idea," Ron whimpered. "This is a really really bad idea."

"Shut up, Ron. Come on--we're obviously not far."

"We have to climb around this thing, Hermione! Look!" Ron pointed ahead of them. Sure enough, they were practically an inch from the edge of the cliff, and it was like that for a good while. It was then that Hermione noticed something dark very high on top of the highest peak.

"I see it, Ron!" She cried."That's the cabin!"

"Where?" Ron called over the roar of the wind.

"There! See that speck of brown?"

"Son of a--he's not serious! The least Dumbledore could have done was dropped us a little bit closer to the cabin."

"Shut up, Ron." Hermione repeated. "Let's go. We're wasting time just standing here complaining. Be VERY careful--I see the route, but it's tricky--very narrow and slippery because of the snow. Don't look down, whatever you do."

"Okay." Ron squeaked. Heights was his second biggest fear besides spiders, and he felt like throwing up with the idea of having to tackle this mountain range. It was one thing to tackle a dry mountain but a snowy mountain was a death trap. "Hey--wait up!" He moved along the ridge, staring straight ahead over the wilderness. 'This had better be worth it, Harry.' Ron thought bitterly. He was not angry with his friend, but he secretly wished Sirius or Professor Lupin could have taken the job of going to see the enchanter. After all, he and Hermione were just 15.

"Ron! You all right?" Hermione called, turning her head. "Come on!"

Ron continued to follow her.

Back at the castle, Sirius continued to sit beside Harry's bed, blotting the boy's feverish forehead and cheeks with a damp cloth. Harry had not woken since the sponge bath earlier that afternoon, but the fever remained pretty much the same as it had been before. Madame Pomfrey came over to them, carrying another silver goblet filled with a cooling potion. "Let us try to administer this to him again. I know it didn't work well before and made him throw up, but we have to try everything we can until they return."

Sirius nodded, and gently woke Harry with soft words and a gentle shake. "Harry--you have to wake up and take your medicine." Sirius told the scrawny boy underneath the covers. Harry's eyes slitted open half-way and he didn't fight when Madame Pomfrey placed the tip of the goblet against his cracked lips. He weakly took the cool liquid in small mouthfuls, only finishing when the nurse thought he'd had enough.

"Too tired to even protest," She told Sirius.

Molly Weasley stood at the far end of the hospital wing watching through tearful eyes. She knew it would be a great blow to Ron to loose Harry only a short time after loosing his older brother. At the rate things were going now, Harry had a very slim chance of surviving this illness, unless the fever decided to disappear sometime soon.

"Mum--I'm cold." Harry whimpered, shivering under the thin sheet. Molly immediately took position beside him and rubbed his back in a circular motion.

"I know, love, but we can't put too many blankets on you or your temperature will go up." She gently kissed Harry on the forehead just as he broke into a fit of agonizing coughs, and had to be eased into a sitting position until it passed. Harry clung to Mrs. Weasley, choking on sobs when he managed to catch his breath. "Shhhhhh." She soothed. "Everything's going to be all right, Harry dear."

Harry's body soon went slack against her side, and he was immediately placed back atop of his pillows.

"It's so bloody cold." Ron shudderd. They had gotten through the worst part of the mountain range, clinging onto the wall of the cliff for dear life. Marcelo Morbin's cabin was still a great distance away, and the climb itself had taken nearly an hour and a half. Ron had looked down by accident and gripped onto the rock like a cat hanging from the ceiling, and he had to be coaxed by Hermione to move again. Herimone's lips, which were a faint bluish color from the cold, trembled.

"I know. I w-wish we c-could l-light a fire and t-take a rest." She leaned against the rock in a small cranny and kept her eye on the small cabin. "At this rate," She told him, "We won't reach the enchanter till dark. D'you have those flashlights Dumbledore gave us?"

Ron nodded. "In my pack." He set the pack on the snow and knelt down, ignoring the wetness that seeped through his bluejeans. He pulled out two black lights, provided actually by Sirius. "A lantern light would freeze in this." Hermione shuddered, taking hers and checking to make sure it worked. She accidentally shined it right in Ron's eyes and he cried out.

"Watch it with that thing!" He snapped. "Come on--I want to get to the cabin before it gets dark."

"Come on then." She stuck her flashlight into her pocket and they continued climbing.

Sure enough, by the time the pitch black of night fell, they reached the base of the mountain on wich the cabin sat. "Wish we could apparate," Ron sniffed. "Would make things much easier I'll tell you."

Hermione smiled to herself. "Now for the last climb. Come on." She took a deep breath and took the first step. She wasn't fifteen feet when she heard a cry and a sickening CRACK. "RON!" She screamed, whirling around. Ron had slipped on the slope and was lying in the snow a few feet away, his leg twisted in an unnatural angle. "RON! What happened?" She dashed towards her friend and knelt down beside him right away. "Your leg--oh God. It's broken."

"I-I know." He grimaced when he attempted to move it. Hermione took out her wand and pointed it at the injured leg. "Oculas Reparo." A bright light shot from the wand, but had absolutely no effect on Ron's leg whatsoever. "Oh--what are we going to do? I can't just leave you here! You'll freeze to death in the dark like this!"

Ron, shivering, looked up at her. "You have to go on. I can't--when you find the enchanter, bring him here. I'll be fine."

"No!" Hermione sobbed. "I can't--"

"Go, Hermione! Now!" Ron snapped. "Don't argue with me!"

Hermione, her cheeks tearstained, covered Ron with the thick woolen blanket she had in her pack, and hugged him. "Won't be long--it's just there." She whispered.

Ron gave her a weak smile and watched as she started to walk again.


	16. Chapter 16 Marcelo Morbin

Chapter 16 Marcelo Morbin

To reach the enchanter's cabin seemed to take years for Hermione. She was so exhausted that she barely had the strength to even knock on the front door. Before she made a fist to do so, she caught sight of an iron plack at the top. It read:

_Enter if you will _

_The home of Marcelo Morbin _

She cocked her head in confusion. "Enter if you will, huh?" She asked no one in paritcular, and gripped the iron door knob, pushing it open quietly as she could. The cabin was warm and the sound of a fire crackling echoed in her ears. She stepped inside and carefully closed the door behind her. The warmth felt so good and she had a sudden urge to want to fall right on the floor and sleep.

"Hullo?" She asked quietly, making her way into the enormous living room. Blood red carpets were strewn about the floor and an old rocking chair creaked as it moved, but no one was in it. The fire, sure enough, was blazing brightly in the fireplace and there was large, overstuffed couch by the big window on the back wall. No one was in sight. "Hullo?" Hermione asked again, feeling slightly afraid. She rubbed her arms and walked into the center of the parlour, gazing at the moving pictures along the mantle.

"Greetings, madame."

Hermione cried out and whirled around. What met her eyes was a very tall man with greying hair and a gray mustache. He wore a pair of thick, brown cotton trousers and a bright green cotton top. In his hand he held a staff and for a moment the two strangers stood staring at each other in surprise. Hermione watched as he moved across the room, gazing at her with dark brown eyes.

"I'm-I didn't mean to just come in, but the sign on your door said enter if you will, so I assumed you meant anyone could come in if they needed to."

"In deed." Marcelo cleared his throat. "And who might you be? Wait-I know. Hermione Granger, correct?"

Hermione gasped. "You know who I am?" She asked in surprise.

"I do. I know many things, Miss Granger-all things good and evil. Where is your partner Mr. Weasley?"

Hermione couldn't believe it-he knew Ron had been with her as well! This was unreal! "He's-he's hurt. He's at the bottom of the mountain in the snow."

"I shall aid you. One does not survive in these mountains at night alone with no fire to bring warmth. Come-time is slipping away quickly."

Hermione followed the enchanter out of the cabin and back into the cold night, and they hurried down to fetch Ron, who had fallen asleep. Or at least Hermione hoped that was all that had happened. "Ron?" She knelt down and gave her friend a shake. "Ron I'm back."

Ron blinked open his blue eyes. "Hermione?" He asked quietly.

"I have Mr. Morbin with me. He's going to help you, but you're going to have to cooperate."

Ron shook his head. "I can't move, Hermione. My muscles are all stiff."

Marcelo knelt down and lifted Ron into his arms. "Half frozen. Come now-let me get you to my cabin, and we will gather your potion ingredients for Harry."

"Okay." Ron whimpered, shivering as he closed his eyes, trying to block out the blustery cold.

Harry awoke late that night, sneezing hard. Sirius blinked at the noise and watched as his godson gasped after every explosion. He sneezed at least fifteen times before he just kept his mouth covered with his hands, almost afraid to release them. Sirius rubbed Harry's back, fetching a tissue from the nighttable. "Here you are, kiddo. Blow hard now."

Harry did so, but the action was purely exhausting. Sirius brushed Harry's bangs away from his eyes, just as the boy started to sneeze again. Sirius shook his head with a sigh when Harry finished, falling back against his pillow. "Geshuntite." Sirius told his godson, trying hard not to smirk.

"Where's Hermione?" Harry asked weakly. (with his clogged up nose it sounded more like Where's Herbione?)

"She and Ron are running an errand for Dumbledore." Sirius replied. "They'll be back soon. Just rest now."

"Where did they go?" Harry wanted to know.

"Top secret." Sirius kissed Harry on the forehead. "Sleep."

In obedience, Harry closed his eyes. Little did he know where Ron and Hermione truly were. At this present moment in time, he didn't care all that much. As long as they'd be back-that's all that mattered.


	17. Chapter17 Broken Bones and Special Brews

Chapter 18  
Broken Bones and Special Brews  
  
A/N: Almost 100 reviews for this! *gasps* thank you kindly, everyone! And yes I am from America--Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate it! :o) And we had our first snow late last night also--very exciting. I like the fall but the first snow of the season is always nice, even if it was just pretty much a dusting here. not even an inch so i still had school *blurgh*. anyway--I promise you I will not kill Harry. I refuse--He'll be in very bad shape of course but he'll bounce back, so dont worry about that! I may be cruel but not that cruel! All right--without any more ado: oh yes and i can answer those questions:  
  
purple (plushy)  
Tuesday  
Hannah Abbot  
Vault 713  
  
Just had to say that LOL. I knew those answers.  
  
On with the story!  
  
*******************************************************************************************************************************************************************  
  
Ron grimaced as the enchanter lay him down on the couch by the fireplace and watched with uncertainty as the stranger inspected the damage done to his leg. "Hairline fracture--serious but can be mended quickly."   
  
Marcelo took his staff that was leaning against the wall by the door and aimed it at Ron's leg. "Hermione--" Ron whimpered, his eyes wide as saucers as the man began chanting something in a strange language. Almost immediately a white light shot forth from the end of the staff and hit Ron's leg, and when it disappeared: "Wow! It doesn't hurt at all anymore!"  
  
"That, my boy, is because it is not broken anymore. Try and see if you can walk."  
  
Hermione scootched out of the way and watched Ron struggle to his feet. He took a few steps and then walked around in a circle and grinned. "Boy--I'm glad we met you! Thanks! And you're Mr. Morbin?"  
  
"Yes. Now. For the reason you are here--"  
  
Hermione stood up quickly. "Yes--our best friend is really sick with the Hloke curse at Hogwarts in England, and the book said that the only way to cure the effects of the curse is by retreiving the special ingredients for the potion from you."  
  
"I see. The Hloke curse." Marcelo paced about the room. "The potion will take about an hour to brew--it is very tricky to form, and I shall do that for you."  
  
Ron looked at Hermione, whose cheeks were back to their normal rosy tint from the heat from the flames. "An hour?" Ron asked, turning to Hermione with a horrified expression on his face. "Harry might not have that long!"  
  
"How long has the boy been sick?" Marcelo asked.  
  
"He just got really sick two days ago. We thought it was just a common muggle flu. He was really sick last year but got better by Christmas so we figured it was just a result of his weakness from that."  
  
The enchanter noded. "I see, I see. Well--we musn't waste time then. The Hloke curse is not to be taken lightly...as I am sure the two of you read it is deadly or can be potentially deadly if not taken care of at the first sign of the symptoms."  
  
Hermione felt sick again. "So we may be too late?"She whispered, not trusting her own voice.   
  
"We can't be too late!" Ron yelled. "Not if you make the potion now and we get back right away!"  
  
Marcelo just gave him a look. "Have a seat and wait patiently. I'll fetch you each a cup of tea and I'll get to work."  
  
Hermione and Ron sat down immediately, watching as the enchanter left the room. "Blimey--is he cracked or what?" Ron whispered.   
  
Hermione hated to do it, but she nodded in agreement. "He knows too much." She whispered back. Marcelo soon entered the kitchen with two china teacups and handed them to both Hermione and Ron, and then he went to the upper floor of his cabin (Hermione had not even noticed the stairs hidden in one of the corners when she'd first entered) to prepare the potion. For a while neither Hermione or Ron spoke a word--they just sat holding their teacups and staring into the dancing fire. A loud howl could be heard from outside, and Ron jumped, turning around to peer out the window.   
  
"Wolves." He told Hermione. She turned and peered out the window with him, and sure enough, there were a pack of wolves surrounding the cabin. She shuddered and checked her pack for the beaten up frisbee that was their portkey. There was an explosion from upstairs and Ron let out a yell, leaping into Hermione's arms.  
  
"Ron! Get off me!" Hermione snapped. "It's probably just a powerful ingredient for the potion--surely you've heard explosions plenty of times from Fred and George!"  
  
That was true. "But at least I KNOW Fred and George!" Ron hissed. "This guy's looney--"  
  
"Most enchanters are looney," Hermione laughed. "They're more poweful than us."  
  
"Hopefully Harry doesn't explode when he drinks this." Ron told her, taking a sip of his tea. It was plain with just a bit of honey stirred in--the exact way he liked tea to taste. A few more explosions and a whistling noise could be heard and the sound of something squawking, and eventually Mr. Morbin appeared with a flash of light right before them. He held a tin container about the size of a normal drinking glass.   
  
"This should do. Mind you--be VERY careful when administiring it. The brew will have a spicy taste but he musn't spit any of it out. It usually takes up to twenty minutes before results are apparent."  
  
Ron and Hermione stared at each other. Twenty minutes? Still, if this potion was the only thing that could save Harry from certain death, they would have to risk it.   
  
"Thank you very much, Master Morbin." Hermione told the enchanter as she and Ron stood up.  
  
"Do drop by my cabin again sometime," Marcelo told them with a kind smile. "It is too bad you have to leave in such a hurry."  
  
Ron raised an eyebrow. "Uh--sure." When Marcelo turned his back to them, Ron leaned sideways. "When we've both lost her minds." He whispered into Hermione's ear. She tried hard not to laugh aloud.   
  
Marcelo turned back around again. "You have access to a port key, do you not? To get back to your school?"  
  
Hermione reached into her pack and pulled out the beat-up frisbee. "Yep. But because of those wolves out there, could we activate it in here?"  
  
Before she could stop him, Marcelo opened the door to the cabin and aimed his staff at the howling pack. He shouted "PLACIO INCANTARUM!"   
  
Ron shielded his eyes as another flash of light, this time a cool blue, engulfed what seemed to be the entire area surrounding the cabin. When it dimmed a bit, he noticed that the wolves were frozen in place (and some in mid-howl so their mouths were open baring rows of sharp, whtie teeth).   
  
"There you are, my children. Be careful on the way home. Remember Marcelo Morbin!" With that, the door of the cabin blew shut, leaving Ron and Hermione in the cold.   
  
"Whoa! Talk about a whacko!" Ron gasped.   
  
Hermione handed the tin of potion to Ron and set the port key in the snow. "Ready?" She asked, taking a deep breath.   
  
Ron nodded. "Let's go home." He replied. 


	18. Chapter 18 Worries

Chapter 18 Worries

"Sirius-his temperature has gone up again." Madame Pomfrey shook her head after she took Harry's temperature for the fifth time that night. Harry woke up every now and then but was too exhausted to engage in any conversation. Hermione and Ron had not returned yet from Siberia, and Sirius was starting to panic. He took Harry's hand, which had almost a waxy feel and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Hang in there, kiddo."

Madame Pomfrey blotted Harry's feverish cheeks and turned Sirius. "He might not make.." she barely finished her sentence when Sirius jumped in.

"NO! You will NOT say that word in front of me. He's got to make it. Harry's all I have-I need him."

Harry murmered something in his sleep but his eyes didn't open.

"I'm sorry to say this, Sirius, but if Ron and Hermione do not return soon with that potion, there is a good chance he will die, with the rate this fever has been rising."

Sirius fought back tears as he walked over to stand by the window at the opposite end of the hospital wing, and gazed out at the slowly brightening sky. '_Please get back soon, Ron and Hermione. We need you_.' He thought.

On the grounds of Hogwarts, a bright flash of green light interrupted the quiet morning air. Ron and Hermione appeared, still holding on tightly to the frisbee and were staring at the snow beneath them. "Who's looking up first?" Ron asked.

"On three we'll both look up. I find it hard to believe we're still in Siberia."

"But the way that Morbin guy was I wouldn't be surprised." Ron shuddered. "Okay-on three then. One-two-three."

The two of them lifted their heads and sighed with relief. They were on the Quidditch field, glancing up at the high goal posts and stands surrounding the field. Clearly the enchanter had not been as whacko as they had thought, though he was a bit creepy. They still didn't trust the potion they held in the tin container, but that was the only hope they had for Harry.

"Let's go. I'd hate to know what happened to Harry within the past couple of hours." Ron whispered and led the way back into the castle. They bolted through the front doors and ran down the hallway, their footsteps echoing as they ran. Hermione clutched the tin container of potion tightly as though it were an incredibly valuable jewel. In a way, it really was worth quite a great amount-it was worth a life. "Come on!" She told Ron, running a head of him. They reached the hopsital wing and burst through the doors, nearly falling flat.

Sirius, Madame Pomfrey and Mrs. Weasley were grateful to see them, but were more anxious to get the potion into Harry before asking them any questions about their journey to Siberia. Hermione didn't mind, but Ron seemed a bit disappointed. He always liked to tell everything that happened to him over and over and over again, often expecting people to go "Oooh and Ahhhh." Hermione supposed that attitude was the result of being the youngest of four brothers. It didn't help, however, when Harry usually got the most attention a lot of the time. "The enchanter told us that Harry can't spit any of it out-it's supposed to be spicy. So I'd clamp his mouth shut after giving it to him," Hermione told the nurse as she approached Harry's bedside. He looked the same as when they had left him, only slightly worse to Hermione.

"All right. Go and fetch Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall-I'm sure they'll want to be here when we give it to him." Madame Pomfrey told Hermione.

"All right."

"I'll come with you." Ron insisted and took off after her.

"Don't look so disgusted, Ron. I know you wish they asked how our trip went," Hermione said with a roll of her eyes. He blinked.

"What?"

"That's right. I saw your face when they didn't even bring it up."

Ron shrugged. "I don't know. But they are right-Harry's more important."

They reached the headmaster's office and Hermione shouted "Sherbert Lemon!" And watched as the door swung open, revealing a small set of spiral stairs that moved like an escalator. Quickly both friends hopped onto the first step they could get a hold of, and watched as the ground slowly disappeared. They came up into an enormous room cluttered with many odd nick nacks. Over a dozen moving portraits of previous Hogwart's Headmasters lined the walls, and they could see Fawkes the Pheonix resting comfortably in his cage by Dumbledore's desk. "Professor Dumbledore?" Ron called in a loud but not-so-loud voice.

"Over here, Mr. Weasley. Glad to see you two made it back safely. I take it Marcelo Morbin was alive then?"

Hermione and Ron looked at each other and then walked further into the office. They found Professor Dumbledore sitting on his overstuffed couch by the window and approached him. "Yes, we had a pretty safe trip but OUCH!" Hermione turned to Ron, her mouth hanging open. He had whacked her with his elbow on the shoulder and was giving her a menacing glare. "Well we DID!" She snapped.

"Yeah considering the fact that I broke my leg and we had to walk around this huge snow-covered mountain and were close to getting killed several times during that particular part!" Ron snarled.

Dumbledore just eyed him calmly. "So he was alive?"

"Yes. Alive and just as cooky as ever. He's how old?" Ron asked.

"One hundred and fifty five." Professor Dumbledore replied with a half-smirk. "Amazing how those enchanters age."

"He looked like he was just fifty!" Hermione gasped. "I would have never guessed that he was that old! And can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"How is it that enchanters know so much? Well, he knew a good amount but he seemed to forget that he'd told us the information already rather quickly."

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes-enchanters are like that. They can see our minds quite well, but many of them have a very poor memory."

Ron sniggered. "That explains a lot. Well-we got the potion and Madame Pomfrey didn't want to give it to Harry till you and Professor McGonagall were there."

Professor Dumbledore stood up. "Yes-I will fetch Minerva and we will be there as quickly as possible."

Ron and Hermione hurried out of the office and took the spiral stairs back down to the corridor, and grinned when they stepped out onto the cobblestone. "Cool-wish we had more time to explore his office!" Ron told Hermione as they headed back for the hospital wing. "You know-I was wondering, Hermione. How come everything, despite a few mishaps, went so smoothly for us? I expected the enchanter to be a follower of Voldemort or something and by the way he acted I wouldn't have been surprised if he'd kidnapped us or set those wolves on us at the last minute."

Hermione smiled. "You worry too much, Ron. But yeah-it's not over yet. If this potion works the way it's supposed to, then I'll be very impressed."

They entered the hospital wing again and saw that the headmaster and Professor McGonagall had arrived. "There you two are." Professor Dumbledore chortled as they came over.

"Here we go." Madame Pomfrey took a deep breath and opened the tin container. She grimaced when she took in the scent of the liquid and eased Harry into a sitting position. Hermione and Ron stood on either side of Sirius and watched with wide, hopeful eyes. The container was pressed against Harry's lips and tilted back a little, and they watched as Harry slowly began to sip it. He suddenly attempted to spit it out, but the nurse clamped his mouth shut with her hands and Harry whimpered, looking at Sirius with a pitious expression.

"You have to take it all down, Harry. I know it tastes bad but it'll help you." Sirius encouraged. With his eyes watering, Harry managed to force the brew down, fighting the urge to vomit. When he took the first mouthful, he gasped "All of it?"

Madame Pomfrey nodded. "I'm sorry, Harry, but yes, you have to drink all of it. Every last drop."

Harry allowed her to give him another mouthful, and was close to crying again when he had to force it down. It burned going down his throat and felt so hot on his tongue-almost like drinking a bottle of tobassco sauce. Hermione felt her heart ache when she saw the horrid expressions on Harry's face, and felt so guilty that he had to take the potion and not her. "You can do it, Harry." Ron told his friend with a smile. When Harry finally finished the potion, he was in tears and Mrs. Weasley drew the boy into a hug.

"I know, sweetheart. But it'll help you feel better. Ron and Hermione had to go all the way to Siberia to get it for you."

Harry choked on a sob, still very distressed. "I'd love to know what the ingredients were," Madame Pomfrey shuddered when she glanced into the cup.

"He did it upstairs and wouldn't let us watch," Ron told them. "A few things exploded."

"Great." Sirius mumbled. The last thing he wanted was his godson exploding into a billion pieces. For a few moments no one moved from their spot as though expecting something horrible to happen, and Mrs. Weasley shooed them all away.

"Stop gawking at the poor boy as though he was an animal at the zoo." She hissed.

Professor McGonagall glanced at Professor Dumbledore with a nervous look. "We should all get some sleep-it's been a long couple of days for everyone."

"But don't you want to hear our story?" Ron asked, much ot the amusement of Hermione.

"Shut up, Ron, and let's go back to bed." She sniggered.


	19. Chapter 19 Discussions and Awakenings

Chapter 19 Discussions and Awakenings

When Hermione awoke later that evening, she quickly hopped out of bed and hurried to the boys' dormitory. Ron was still sound asleep and burried in his covers so that only the tip of his head was visible. "Hey." She whispered, shaking him a bit. He mumbled something inaudible and swiped a hand at her, not even moving an inch. Hermione rolled her eyes and grasped the end of his comforter, yanking it off. Amazingly enough, that didn't seem to wake Ron either. She giggled at the sight of him lying in his pajama pants and Chudly Cannons t-shirt, and decided to use the tickle approach. Eventually she set him laughing so hard that he practically rolled right out of bed and onto the floor.

"Well you weren't waking up nicely," She told him, folding her arms.

"Hermione-why did you wake me up? It's only seven thirty at night! I don't even care if I miss dinner-I ju want to sleep."

Hermione sighed. "Don't you want to see how the medicine affected Harry? I'm sorry but I couldn't sleep, and I figured you'd want to know too."

Ron finally complied and slid out of bed, following Hermione to the common room. The fire was burning low in the fireplace, and both teenagers stopped at the sight before them. Sirius had fallen sound asleep on one of the overstuffed, blood-red velvet armchairs with a copy of the book Hermione had brought up from the library. Madame Pomfrey had obviously sent him off to get some sleep, and she dared not to wake him.

"Oh but you woke ME," Ron snarled as they tiptoed past Sirius and out of the tower.

Hermione rolled her deep brown eyes. "Sirius has been sitting up with Harry ever night. The poor guy really needed a nap."

They reached the hospital wing and tiptoed inside, not sure what to expect. Madame Pomfrey and Mrs. Weasley sat on either side of Harry's bed, watching the boy sleep. "Hullo." Hermione greeted in a low voice as she walked over to them. Both women jumped at the sound, but smiled when they caught sight of her.

"Hullo, Hermione dear." Mrs. Weasley replied.

"How is he feeling? Did the potion work?" Hermione asked in a hopeful tone.

"He's sleeping peacefully now and the fever broke a few hours ago," Madame Pomfrey told Hermione with relief. "But look-you'd never believe it unless we showed you."

Hermione glanced at Ron with confusion and the two of them hurried to stand beside Harry. Madame Pomfrey brushed Harry's bangs back, revealing his bare forehead, and Hermione gasped. The lightening scar-the one that had made Harry Potter famous around Hogwarts-was gone! "It's-it's gone! His scar is gone!" Ron couldn't believe it.

"It does not surprise me that it disappeared. In the book it said that the lightening-shaped scar was the symbol that Harry had indeed been hit with the Hloke Curse, and now that we remedied it the scar has gone away."

Ron sighed. "He always told me though, that his scar was the one thing about him he found interesting-at least until he got here and everyone continuously gawked over it. I guess he can go back to being a normal teenage wizard when he wakes up."

Hermione couldn't help grinning as she touched her boyfriend's now- cool cheek. "Will he still have allergies?" She asked.

Madame Pomfrey looked at Mrs. Weasley. "Yes, he will. Unfortunately, they were part of him before the curse hit; and uncureable. They only progressed because of the affects of you-know-who's poison. Gave his body a chance to produce the effects. But I should be able to provide potions for Harry to take so he can feel better."

Ron folded his arms. "So when do you think he'll wake up?" He wanted to know. "He still looks a little sick to me."

Mrs. Weasley gave her son a sympathetic glance. "Madame Pomfrey doesn't think he'll wake up tonight, and we won't force him to. Let him sleep and I am sure we will get to see those brilliant emeralds in the morning."

Hermione giggled. "I see you got Sirius to go to bed for a while."

Madame Pomfrey rolled her eyes. "That took a bit of a struggle, of course. At first he refused altogether to leave the hopsital wing until Harry woke up. Then he wanted to sleep in one of the cots in here, but FINALLY we convinced him to leave the hospital wing altogether as long as one or both of us promised to sit up with Harry in case he needed anything."

Harry suddenly made a small noise and caused everyone to turn their heads towards him. "Harry dear-are you waking up?" Mrs. Weasley asked, stroking Harry's stray bangs away from his eyes. Hermione held Ron's arm tightly as she saw Harry's eyes flutter under their lids. Madame Pomfrey took Harry's hand and gave it a small squeeze.

"If you're ready, Harry, you can do it. Open your eyes."

"He's waking up!" Ron cried in excitement. "Come on, Harry." He encouraged.

A few moments later Harry's eyes fluttered open about halfway, and Hermione knelt down right beside his head. "Thank God you're all right." She sobbed.

Harry was a bit frightened that no matter how hard he tried his lips didn't seem to want to work properly. "Get the goblet of water ready, Molly." Madame Pomfrey told Mrs. Weasley, pointing to the silver goblet on the nightstand.

Finally a small "Hullo." Protruded from Harry's very-dry lips.

"Hullo sweetheart." Mrs. Weasley told him, trying not to get too emotional. Over the past couple of days Harry had gone straight to her heart as though he were one of her own sons. She could have only imagined how Lily Potter would have reacted to seeing her son so ill. "How are you feeling, dear?"

"Take a bit of water down, love." Madame Pomfrey eased the boy into a semi-reclined position and held the goblet to his lips. The cool, clear liquid felt wonderful going down Harry's sore, dry throat. "Not too much- there we are. Oh my poor boy-you had us all so terribly worried about you!"

Silent tears were now pouring down Hermione's face as she reached her hand up to stroke Harry's forehead. "Should we wake Sirius?" Ron asked.

"Not right now, Ron. He needs to catch up on sleep." Mrs. Weasley told her son.

"What happened?" Harry asked, his voice still very hoarse.

"You were really sick," Ron told him. "You had a really high fever and we thought you were going to leave us for a bit there."

"We'll explain everything to you in full when you feel stronger, Harry." Mrs. Weasley promised. "You don't need to be overwhelmed by information at the moment. Just rest as much as you need to."

"Herm-missed you." Harry whispered, turning his head so that he could see his girlfriend more clearly. She wrapped her arms around him.

"I missed you too. I hope this NEVER happens again." She choked.

Harry nodded but then his nose wrinkled and he covered his mouth with his hand, sneezing violently.

"Bless you, Harry dear." Mrs. Weasley chuckled.

"Thanks." He practically whispered. Then he paused. "Where's Sirius?"

"Sirius is resting-he's been sitting up with you for the past four nights," Madame Pomfrey replied.

"Oh. Good. I guess the others are too?" He meant Professor Lupin, Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall.

"I'm not quite sure, honey, but they're about."

"Did I miss any school?" He added, and this statement caused them all to laugh.

"Harry-don't you even know what day it is?" Ron snorted.

"No-I guess I lost track of time when I was sick."

"It's only the beginning of August. You got sick about a few days after your birthday."

"It's August the ninth," Madame Pomfrey told Harry. "And don't you even think about school. I'll give you the line up for the next couple of weeks. You'll spend the rest of this week in the hospital wing and then we'll move you up to the Gryffindor tower and you'll be in your own bed. How does that sound? And we'll start you on a very bland diet for the time being till your stomach gets back on track."

Harry nodded-it all sounded fine to him. He was too tired to even think about walking around, even if it meant walking down the corridor. Sleeping was the only thing he wanted to do for a good while. "Harry-Ron and I are going to visit Hagrid-we'll have him come by and see you later today," Hermione told her boyfriend. In truth she and Ron hadn't had the time to visit the Hogwart's gamekeeper since they'd arrived at the school."

Harry blinked. "Oh-okay."

"So we'll see you later then." Ron added. "Is that all right, Mum?"

"As long as that's the only place you two are going," Mrs. Weasley warned.

"Don't worry. I have Ron's leash up in the tower." Hermione teased. "I'll make sure to keep him on it." She gave Ron a mischevious grin before waving to Harry and leaving the hospital wing. Ron stood staring after her, his mouth hanging open.

"That's hitting below the belt!" He snapped. "Hey Hermione-wait up!" He hurried to catch up with his friend who had doubled over in laughter at her joke's effect in the corridor.

"So he's feelin' better, eh?" Hagrid asked once the two were in the gamekeepers hut about twenty-minutes later, sitting on the enormous chairs and drinking huge mugs of tea.

"Sort of," said Hermione. "He's really really tired."

"Well-that's to be expected. Are yeh sure he's all righ' to have visitors today? P'raps I'd best go and see 'im tomorrow mornin'."

"He'd love to see you!" Hermione insisted.

"Well-I s'pose I will then. He gave me quite a fright."

"As he did all of us," Hermione shuddered. "It's NOT something I'd like to experience again anytime soon." She sipped the strong tea. "So are you growing anything special this year?" She asked, changing the topic completely.

"I'm jus' keepin' the school's vegetable patches nice and plumped up. Had an army o' slugs attack the cabages last nigh' so had to spray 'em, but that's about all that's been causin' me trouble. I may grow me pumpkins again when it gets colder."

Hermione nodded. "You grew some great pumpkins, Hagrid."

"Yeah-after yeh found out what my trick to keepin' 'em so big was!" He winked at Hermione. "So-are yeh three hangin' around here for the rest o' the summer or are yeh goin' back home and then returnin' for the term?"

Hermione looked at Ron. "Most likely we're staying here so that Harry can regain his strength."

"I hope Harry can still play Quidditch with his asthma," Ron pondered.

"Asthma?" Hagrid asked. "What's that?" "It's actually a muggle disease," Hermione explained. "He has problems with his lungs when he's under too much stress. But I'm sure he will be able to play, Ron. The nurse will think of something-Gryffindor won't have a team without Harry."

That was the truth. Harry was one of the best seekers for the Gryffindor Quidditch team since Charlie Weasley.

"Well-the two o' you had best get your arse's back up teh the school. I'll be up in a bit to see Harry, but I have some things I have to do in me hut."

"All right. Good seeing you, Hagrid." Said Ron, setting down his mug. He followed Hermione back to the castle, watching as the stars slowly began to appear in the darkening summer sky.


	20. Chapter 20 In the long term

Chapter 21 In the Long Term

When Sirius awoke early the next morning, the first thought was that he had to go and see his godson. He nearly bumped straight into Hermione who was coming to the common room from the Great Hall after grabbing breakfast. "Good morning, Sirius!" She greeted happily. "Let me guess where you're going."

Sirius smiled. "Have you seen him? How is he?"

"He's doing just fine, Sirius. He woke up late last night but we didn't have the heart to wake you up."

Sirius laughed and patted her on the shoulder. "How kind of you. That's awesome that he's feeling better. I'll bet he's wiped out."

"Yeah-he's been sleeping on and off today. Well-I'm going to go and do some reading for next year-I'll see you later."

Sirius shook his head with a smirk as Hermione walked past him and into the tower. Reading over the summer-typical Hermione behavior.

When he reached the hospital wing, he headed over to Harry's bed where Mrs. Weasley sat singing softly.

"Hey." Sirius whispered and tiptoed over to the opposite side of the bed. He placed a hand against Harry's forehead, very pleased at how cool it felt. Mrs. Weasley smiled.

"He's doing much better, Sirius," she announced, and he looked ready to collapse with relief.

"That's excellent," Sirius replied, trying not to speak too loudly as to startle Harry. Even though had taken a lot to get him to bed as it was, but he had to admit, the night of somewhat proper sleep felt wonderful.

"There you are!"

Sirius turned to see Madame Pomfrey walking over and nodded a greeting. "Good morning, Poppy."

"Sirius-I wanted to discuss the possible long term effects due to Harry's illness. You might want to take some precautionary measures."

Sirius nodded and gave his godson's frail hand a small squeeze before joining the nurse out in the corridor. They didn't speak for a moment, because the nurse was trying to gather her thoughts.

"Bad news?" Sirius asked after he couldn't take the silence any longer.

"Not so bad," Madame Pomfrey admitted. "Harry will feel stronger within a few weeks, but there are some chronic issues that he developed after this illness. He'll still have bad allergies during certain seasons of the year, which you told me he had already. However, as I told Molly, there are ways that these diseases can be controlled."

Sirius nodded. "At least that's good."

Madame Pomfrey nodded. "Yes it is. He'll need allergy shots once every two weeks, and of course, he's not the first student to have this condition. I treat many during the years," She explained when she saw the surprise on Sirius's face. Then she leaned forward. "And some good news-that scar on his forehead has disappeared."

Sirius's mouth dropped. "Are you kidding me?" he asked in amazement.

Madame Pomfrey shook her head with a grin. "I'm not. In a few moments you can have a look for yourself."

Sirius hadn't felt this happy in a while. He'd been on his toes with his godson's health all summer long, and hopefully Harry was going to feel better for a while. Madame Pomfrey then led Sirius back into the hospital wing and urged Mrs. Weasley to head off and get some sleep. When she left, Sirius took her spot on the chair and brushed Harry's bangs away from his forehead. Sure enough, there wasn't a scar. Harry opened his eyes slowly and focused on Sirius's face for a few minutes.

"Hey there bud. How are you feeling today?" Sirius asked.

"Better." Harry admitted. "How are you?"

"Just fine, Harry. I'm so glad you're going to be all right. You have no idea how frightened I was."

Harry held out his arms and Sirius gave his godson a hug. "I don't know what I would have done if you'd left me." He whispered, choking on a sob. Then he released Harry with a chuckle. "I'm sorry I'm getting all emotional on you. I'm sure you've had enough of that over the past few hours."

Harry just smiled weakly. "It's okay, Sirius. Really." Then he paused. "What did the nurse have to say?"

"Just what we have to expect in the long term." Sirius replied truthfully.

"Which is what?" Harry asked.

"Well--unfortunately your allergies will still be there, so we just have to worry about keeping them under control."

Harry nodded. "Oh." he shrugged. "Well, I s'ppose that won't be so bad. " he managed a smile, and Sirius laughed, patting his arm.

"I know it'll be tough, but you'll be fine," Sirius explained. "Madame Pomfrey told me you can still play Quidditch, as long as you take care of yourself. Madame Pomfrey and I will help you through it and so will Hermione and Ron, I'm sure. But it's really up to you to help yourself."

Harry closed his eyes for a moment; he was still so exhausted, which was primarily a result of the fever and the long nights of coughing. He was thoroughly embarassed at having put his family and friends through this, even though he knew it wasnt entirely his fault.

Sirius took the goblet from the nightstand and offered it to Harry. "Would you like some water?" He asked.

"Sure. Thanks." Harry accepted the goblet and drank the liquid rather greedily.

"Slow down, kid. You don't want to get sick to your stomach by drinking too much at once." Sirius ruffled Harry's messy black hair, receiving the familiar look of annoyance, and grinned. It was definitely clear the boy was feeling better.

"I'm just so thirsty," Harry gasped when he'd finished and handed the cup back to his godfather who set it on the table again.

"I can imagine. Well-you really should go back to sleep. Your system's still recovering and I don't want anything else to happen to you. I'm sure even a small cold could be dangerous right now."

Without an argument, Harry burried himself back underneath his covers and closed his eyes, sighing in content. Sirius seriously hoped this ordeal was over-he didn't think he could take it if Harry came down with another illness like this past one. Sirius stroked Harry's hair, thanking God for letting the boy stay with him.


	21. Chapter 21 Promises

Chapter 21 Promises

Within the next couple of weeks, Harry was able to get up out of bed, but he was still pretty weak. Hermione and Ron aided him when he walked at certain points, but for the most part, he was able to get around on his own.

"You really do seem to be doing much better, Harry," Hermione pointed out when they sat in the common room. Harry had a book open on his lap, and was reading intently.

Harry smiled at her, and encouraged her to join him, accepting a kiss once she sat on his lap.

"Is it any good?" She asked, noticing the book he was reading: FAMOUS QUIDDITCH PLAYS. He nodded.

"Pretty good. Some of these I think we can use for next year-they aren't too complicated."

Ron then entered the room with a surprise guest. "Look who's here," He announced, revealing Lavender who was smiling from ear to ear. "Mum brought her just a little while ago. Dumbledore said it was all right and she's spending the last week of the summer at Hogwarts with us."

Lavender waved. "Hullo Harry and Hermione."

Hermione hopped up from Harry's lap and enveloped her girlfriend in a tight hug. "You look great," She complimented. Harry covered his nose with the tissue and sneezed again, grumbling something inaudible under his breath.

"I heard you were really sick, Harry." Lavender announced, wrapping her arm around Ron's waist as the two of them went to sit down in an empty chair.

"Uh huh." He sniffed and sneezed yet again, much to the frustration of Hermione.

"Do you still have a cold?" Lavender asked with concern.

"A little bit," he replied. "But it's mostly just leftover sniffles. I'm getting a lot better." he tightened his hug on Hermione, squeezing her hands.

Ron leaned his chin on top of Lavender's head. "It was really scary for a while," he admitted.

Hermione nodded. "Yeah-I'll think about that." She gave Harry another kiss.

"Hey-it's a great day outside-why don't we go and sit in the sun?" Lavender suggested. "It's too gloomy inside and I'd like to enjoy what's left of my summer vacation."

Hermione looked at Harry. "We should ask the nurse first if you're able to go outdoors right now, especially with your allergies."

"We'll go ask her. But I could definitely use some fresh air," Harry admitted and followed Hermione to the hospital wing. The nurse shook her head with a sigh when they approached her.

"You sound very stuffed up, Mr. Potter."

"I'm all right, really," he insisted, and the nurse gave him a curious glance.

"Ah-I see. Well, Harry-how do you feel about going outside? You are allergic to pollen and dust, remember."

Harry knew that, but he hated being cooped up inside while his friends were enjoying the warm sunshine. "I'll be all right. I'll take my inhaler with me if I need it out there."

She nodded. "Very well then. Just take good care of him-here-wrap this around your shoulders in case you get cold." Madame Pomfrey handed Harry a fleese blanket, which caused Ron to snigger.

"A fleese blanket? It's 78 degrees out there!"

"Just in case." The nurse explained. "Go on now."

Harry felt as though he had been reborn when he stepped outdoors for the first time since arriving in Diagon Alley. The group decided to go and hang out by the lake and sat on the bank, gazing ahead at the sparkling water. The giant squid poked it's enormous tentacles through the surface every so often but meant no harm. Soon all four friends were lying in a circular pattern, with their heads touching. "It feels so odd to be here before anyone else," said Lavender, smiling as she gazed up at the fluffy white clouds that passed overhead.

"I like it," said Hermione. "I'm glad we were able to help you, Harry."

"I'm very lucky to have friends like you two," Harry told her, sniffling a little; he could feel the affect of the pollen.

"So what did you do this summer, Lavender?" asked Hermione. "Well-my parents and I went to the seashore for a week and visited some relatives in Devon-my Aunt and Uncle. My cousin just turned eleven today and she got her letter to Hogwarts," Lavender replied proudly. Lavender's father was a wizard but her mother was a Muggle and everyone on her father's side had magical blood in them.

"What's her name?" Hermione inquired, and Lavender looked at her.

"Jessica Brown."

"Congratulations," Said Harry. Hermione then turned over on her stomach and stroked Harry's messy black hair. "I'm so glad you're feeling better-I know I've told you that a hundred times, but I really am." She told him. He smiled softly, feeling very tempted to fall asleep at the moment.

"Since this happened," Lavender began with a grunt as she sat up and leaned against Ron. "I say we make a pact from now on, right here and right now. That we'll always be there for each other when anything happens-good or bad." She looked at Hermione with a grin.

Hermione nodded and placed her hand on the grass. "It's a pact." She replied, and Ron, Harry and Lavender placed their hands on top of hers.

"That means, Harry, that if you feel the least bit sick that you tell one of us," said Hermione. "Don't try to hide it like you did before. You saw where that got you."

Harry shuddered. "I promise I'll tell you." He insisted.

"All for one and one for all," laughed Ron, tackling his girlfriend in a playful tickling session.

"Noooooooo!" Lavender squealed, curling into a little ball, trying to escape his wrath. Hermione looked at Harry and pulled her wand out of her pocket and tried very hard not to laugh as she muttered "Narico."

Everybody gasped-in Ron's place was now a toad, and Lavender burst into laughter, slapping fives with Hermione.

"Hermione!" Harry cried. "Turn him back!"

"Hey-we're in school and can use magic to our advantage," Hermione giggled. "I promise I'll turn him back, but I kind of like him this way for the moment."

RIBBIT. That was too much-Harry burst out laughing and finally Hermione turned Ron back into himself, revealing a very angry red head. "NEVER," He began, "Do that AGAIN."

"Can't you take a joke, Ron?" Hermione sniggered.

"Obviously not," giggled Lavender. "Oh come on, Ron-it really was funny-you have to admit that."

Ron scowled. "Funny for you maybe. Shut up, Harry!" He snapped at his friend who was still laughing. Suddenly they all heard the sound of barking and turned to see Sirius bounding towards them. He had taken the form of the black dog Harry had thought was a bad omen during his third year at Hogwarts, and he stood wagging his tale at them.

"Hi Sirius." Said Hermione, giggling when the dog turned into a man.

"Wondering what happened to you kids."

"Darn-I was hoping to play fetch with you!" Ron teased.

"Do you want to? I'll bet I'll be good at it." Sirius joked back.

Harry watched with amazement as his godfather returned to his dog form, and Ron hurried to find a stick. Hermione shook her head with a roll of her eyes as the game started, and she and Harry watched Sirius run back and forth. "Here Harry-you try it," Ron suggested, handing Harry the stick.

"I don't know about this," Harry hesitated, but his friends encouraged him to go on with it. Harry managed to throw the stick a good fifty feet away, and the black dog stood watching where it had landed, whimpering slightly as he trotted off to go and retrieve it.

"You should think about baseball," Hermione joked. "You have some arm!"

Harry shrugged. "It was nothing." Sirius trotted back and dropped the stick on the ground and once again changed back into the form of a man, panting.

"Good grief, Harry-that was some throw!"

"You got your exercise," Hermione laughed as Sirius sat down panting.

"No kidding."

"Hey-it's getting close to lunchtime-I'm starving," said Ron standing up. "Let's head inside for a while."

"Okay." Harry agreed-he was starting to feel tired again anyway, and wanted to fall into bed and go back to sleep for a while. He told Sirius this, who looked a little worried but didn't fuss as he used to. He probably chose to hold back with the warning look his godson gave him and he followed the teenagers into the castle.

END PART I


	22. Chapter 22 September 1st

PART II

YEAR SIX

Chapter 22 September 1st

"Hurry up, you guys! The sorting's about to start and I don't want to miss Jessica!" Lavender cried. Harry, Ron and Hermione ran after her towards the Great Hall on the first day of the new school year, and they could hear the familiar voice of the sorting hat as it sung its annual song:

Though I'm old and ratty Do not think me batty Don't get your hair all in a flap For I am a thinking cap

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Lavender took their usual seats at the Gryffindor table, where they were greeted by their old friends. "How come you weren't on the train?" whispered Dean Thomas with confusion. Seamus Finnigan and Neville Longbottom sat on either side of him.

"Long story," Harry replied. "We'll tell you guys later in the common room."

You may belong to Gryffindor Where bravery is key Loyalty and kindness Produced great witches and wizards, you'll see.

"So how was your summer?" asked Seamus.

Harry, Ron and Hermione glanced at each other uncomfortably.

I have not failed yet And never will.

Ron sniggered. "It doesn't have to be modest." He watched as Professor McGonagall unrolled the parchment and began to call out the names of the new students. "Allan, Rowan!"

Lavender nudged Ron on the arm and pointed towards the crowd of first years. "What?" He asked.

"See that little girl with the blonde hair and glasses? Standing in the second row from the back?"

"Yeah-what about her?"

"That's Jessica!"

"Oh! Cool."

Eventually the name "Brown, Jessica!" was announced, and Lavender held her breath as she watched her little cousin climb up to the platform, her cheeks red with embarassment as she sat facing the rest of the school. The sorting hat was then placed on her head. "GRYFFINDOR!" it shouted a few moments later, and the entire Gryffindor table burst into cheers as Jessica happily skipped towards it.

"Hullo, Lavender!" Jessica squealed, throwing her arms around her cousin.

"Hi! Congratulations!" Lavender laughed. "Sit here-we've saved you a seat."

Jessica sat down and then noticed Harry, and her mouth fell open. "Holy cricket! I know who YOU are!" She gasped. "You're Harry Potter, aren't you?"

Harry nodded with a laugh. "Yes. And you must be Jessica."

"You can call me Jess. Do you really have the scar? Is it true what people say?"

Harry hesitated but then moved his bangs away from his eyes. Jessica frowned. "Oh-I thought you really were him."

"I am." Harry insisted.

"Well-where is the scar then?"

"We'll tell you later, Jess." Lavender promised.

"Clifford, Robert!" Professor McGonagall shouted and a boy with blonde hair and blue eyes stepped up to the stool. He ended up being another Gryffindor, and when the sorting ceremony ended, Professor Dumbledore stood to make his usual start-of-term announcement. "I wish he'd skip this and get straight to the food," Ron grumbled, glancing down at his empty golden plate and goblet. "I'm starving."

"Are you hungry, Harry?" asked Hermione.

"Sort of." Harry admitted. He hadn't felt properly hungry since his birthday party, and it worried him a little.

"I could eat a horse!" Jess giggled. "I didn't eat anything on the train because I was so nervous. I was talking to Peter Halway and he was telling me how we had to perform spells and how good we did was how we got into which house."

Lavender rolled her eyes. "You shouldn't have listened to him. It wasn't so bad, was it?"

Jess shook her head. Finally the food appeared and everyone began to eat. Harry, Ron and Hermione eventually wound up telling the story of the enchanter and Harry's near-death experience and they had all of their friends wide-eyed and open-mouthed.

"You went all the way to Siberia?" Katie Bell cried. "Wasn't that dangerous?"

"We used a portkey of course," Ron told her.

"You would have never gotten me to do something like that in a million years!" Alicia Spinnet gasped.

Harry snorted. "Thanks, Alicia." He joked.

"Well-I mean...I um...I didn't mean it quite like that, Harry." She insisted. Ron was enjoying having an audience and he got so into telling the story that he was acting it out as well.

"Oh brother," scoffed Hermione.

Ron cried out when he felt someone clasp an enormous hand on his shoulder and he slowly turned around to see the enormous form of Hagrid standing behind him. "Hullo, Hagrid." He squeaked. "Did you want to hear the story of Hermione and I in Siberia?"

Hagrid chortled. "Already heard it three times, Ron." He joked.

"Oh."

"How are yeh feelin', Harry?" Hagrid asked.

"Better, Hagrid. Thanks." Harry replied, taking a bite of chicken-pot- pie.

"That's good teh hear. An' welcome back teh the rest of yeh." He smiled at the others. Then Hagrid went to join the Professors at the staff table so he could eat as well, and Harry turned back to Hermione. "It looks like Professor Lupin's back again," He whispered, nodding towards the staff table. Hermione glanced over her shoulder and smiled.

"This is the first time we've ever had a Professor stick around for two years in a row." She replied.

Harry suddenly sneezed loudly, holding a napkin to his nose just in time as he did so.

A few random "Bless you's" could be heard throughout the table.

"Thanks." Harry sniffed.

"So what are you allergic to exactly?" asked Katie as she stirred her lamb stew.

"Dust and pollen." Harry replied.

Hermione nodded. "Wow, I'm stuffed." She let out a small burp and excused herself with a giggle. Ron nearly choked on his pumpkin juice after she did that.

"How lady like," He snorted.

"Shuddup." Hermione snapped.

Jessican let out an enormous belch, causing Harry and Ron to jump and the other girls to burst into laughter. "What?" Jessica asked.

"Jess! I hate it when you do that!" Lavender cried through her laughter.

Jessica giggled. "You're laughing so you don't hate it that much!" She joked.

"Some cousin you have, Lavender!" Dean snorted. "You go, girl!"

"She also hates it when I do this," Jessica added. She turned to her cousin and raised her eyes so that she looked possessed and let out a meniacal burst of laughter.

"Stop THAT!" Lavender squealed.

"I'm sure you two are going to have a lot of fun this year," Harry teased.

"If I don't strangle her first," Lavender grumbled, going back to her food.

Jessica batted her eyelashes. "You LOVE me." She teased.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

The rest of dinner passed on uneventfully, and by the time Harry and the rest of his house arrived in the Gryffindor common room they were all ready to fall right into bed. Harry and Hermione said good night at the bottom of the stairs and shared a kiss before going their separate ways. "I'll meet you down here tomorrow morning," Hermione told Harry with a wave. He smiled and waved back before disappearing into the sixth-year dormitory room.


	23. Chapter 23 Thoughts

Chapter 23 Thoughts

The next morning, Hermione met Harry in the common room, which was empty. Harry pulled Hermione aside and wrapped his arms around her waist, gazing into her eyes. "What's up?" She asked.

"Hermione-I-I really wanted to thank you for what you and Ron did for me. I never properly did and I should have."

Hermione blushed a little as she looked down at her feet. "It's okay, Harry. We would have done anything for you."

Harry kissed her. "I love you." He whispered as she kissed him back. Then they walked hand-in-hand towards the portrait hole when they heard a very overly cheerful shout.

"Good morning!"

The couple turned to see Jessica bounding down the stairs from the first year girl's dormitory, a big smile on her face. She carried her backpack over her shoulder and Hermione could see a wand sticking out a bit.

"Morning," said Harry.

"Hullo." Greeted Hermione. "Where's Lavender?"

"I don't know. She's probably coming."

Jessica followed Harry and Hermione to the Great Hall for breakfast and along the way she began asking them a lot of questions, such as "How long have you two been dating?"

Hermione desparately wanted to tell Jessica to go away but didn't want to hurt the girl's feelings, especially on her first day at Hogwarts. When they sat down at the table, Hermione noticed Ron and Lavender deep in conversation and turned to Harry who was just staring into space. "Course schedules." She said, holding his right in front of him. He jumped.

"Oh-I'm sorry. Blanked out." He accepted his sheet and then peered over at Hermione's.

"How come you didn't say hi this morning, Lavender?" Jessica asked her elder cousin, moving down towards her. Lavender raised an eyebrow.

"Jess-let me make one thing clear. Just because you're my cousin doesn't mean we're always going to be hanging out together, okay? Plus you should be making friends with the first years instead of clinging to me." Jessica's disappointment was evident, and Hermione gave Lavender a nudge, feeling bad for the younger girl. She of all people knew what it was like to feel left out; until she'd met and befriended Harry and Ron, she'd been an outcast with the other first years. _Though I was a bit of a brat, I'll admit, _she thought sheapishly.

"Jessica, I know you're feeling shy right now, but I can see Erin is sitting down there all by herself. Maybe go and say hi to her?" Hermione pointed to another new Gryffindor, Erin McShannan, who was sitting amongst a few of the second and third years but was not really talking to anyone in particular. She was eating her breakfast with her eyes to the table, looking distinctly uncomfortable. Jessica frowned slightly as she turned. At last she nodded in agreement, and went to join the other first year. Soon, the new students got into a full-fleged conversation, causing Hermione to smile with relief.

Lavender shook her head with a roll of her eyes.

"Thanks, Hermione," she said. "My cousin's been like that ever since I can remember. Sticks to me like glue."

Hermione chuckled. "Well, it's natural for family members to stick together. Wasn't Ginny the same way her first day of school?" she turned to Ron, who paused in eating his toast, and blinked.

"What?" he asked, and Hermione gave a huff, glancing at her schedule, and comparing it with those of her other friends.

It turned out that Harry, Ron, Hermione and Lavender each had Double- Potions together third period and Harry and Hermione had History of Magic together fourth period.

"Great!" said Harry.

Hermione leaned against his shoulder and then gave him a hug. She caught sight of Draco Malfoy, who was giving her a look of through disgust. She knew exactly what he was thinking-what was Harry Potter doing with a filthy mudblood like her? Didn't he have enough decency to date a pure- blood? 'I am going to slug Malfoy one of these days,' Hermione thought bitterly as she felt Harry kiss her on the top of her head. She suddenly felt someone tap her on the shoulder and turned her head to see Ron who had moved over a few seats. "What other classes do you have, Hermione?" He asked.

By that time breakfast had arrived and they started eating. Dean and Neville came down to the Great Hall late, looking very ticked off about having to be awake so early. "Why can't the summer holiday be longer?" Dean grumbled as he moved his bacon around on his plate. "I DON'T feel like staring at the face of Professor Severus Snape for the first class of the day."

Harry sniggered. "I don't like to look at him ANY time of the day," he added.

Jessica soon came back over with Erin and got Lavender's attention. "We're going to class, Lavender. I'll see you later." It was clear Erin was happy with her new companion; the other girl was smiling and clutching her books, excitement very apparent in her blue eyes.

"Bye-have fun!" Lavender called after her cousin, waving with a grin. "At least she made a friend her first day. That's good."

Harry wrapped his arms around Hermione and leaned his chin on her head. "So what classes do you have this year, Lavender?" He asked.

"Let's see now. Double-Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Magic of the Dark Ages, Transfiguration and Charms."

Harry excused himself and turned to the side before sneezing loudly, causing a few of the newer students to jump. Hermione frowned as another erupted no more than a minute later. She felt his forehead just to be on the safe side and was relieved that it still felt cool.

"I'm fine, Hermione. Just my allergies." Harry sniffed. "Listen-let's get going to class-I'd hate to be late my first day and I really don't want to miss anything this year."

Hermione gaped at Harry. Harry was an average student at Hogwarts and usually didn't show a ton of interest in his classes as she did, and it was amazing to see him rushing off like this. The illness did seem to make Harry more serious towards his life, because he saw how quickly it could go. "Hey wait up!" said Hermione, snagging a piece of toast from her plate and grabbing her bag and her wand. "What are you in such a hurry for? You know we just have introductions on the first day."

Harry shrugged. "I don't know."

"Oh. Well-um-I'll see you next class then."

Harry kissed her. "I'll see you later-I love you." He waved and they parted in separate directions to their first classes. Hermione walked towards Arithmancy with an uncomfortable feeling inside of her. Harry seemed a bit distant these days, but he still managed to prove his love for her in little ways. She seriously hoped he wasn't sick again or something, especially the way he'd been sneezing lately. 'He does have allergies. He's probably just wiped out from them.' Hermione thought to herself as she pushed the door open to Professor Vector's classroom.


	24. Chapter 24 A Bit Odd Lately

Chapter 24  
A Bit Odd Lately

After Muggle Studies, Hermione caught up with Ron in the corridor and pulled him aside. "What's the matter?" Ron asked, raising an eyebrow. Hermione looked over her shoulder and then pulled Ron into a corner of the hallway so no one could see them.

"Has Harry been acting a bit--oddly today?" Hermione whispered.

"How do you mean?"

"He seems so--I don't know--distant. He did thank us for saving him but the passion was missing."

Ron snorted. "Come on, Hermione. You KNOW he of all people appreciated that we went all the way to Siberia just to save him. I'm sure he has a lot on his mind right now, especiallly since he's not inflicted with two chronic muggle illnesses. That's got to be tough on a guy to take in."

Hermione nodded. "I suppose you're right, Ron." She shuddered. "He looks better than he did this summer, but there is something not quite right. You know what I mean?"

"I think so."

"Hello!"

"AHHHHHHH!" Hermione threw her backpack into the air and the intruder caught it. Lavender stood staring at the two of them, her hands on her hips and a rather indifferent expression on her face.

"Lavender--it wasn't what it looked like--honestly," Ron insisted. "Hermione just pulled me aside to ask me something."

"He's right," Hermione promised quickly.

"Right. What's going on?" Lavender asked as Ron and Hermione came out into the corridor again and started walking to their next class--Double Potions with Professor Snape in the dungeons. Hermione never looked forward to this class--Snape always found a way to humiliate a Gryffindor student, and he particuarily loved to torment her, because she was so smart and was always raising her hand to answer questions. When they first met Hermione, Ron and Harry thought that she was the most annoying girl on the planet until they had saved her from a mountain troll who had trapped her in the girls' lavatory during their first year.

"I don't know," Hermione admitted. "Remember how we made that pact the other day and made Harry swear he'd tell us what was going on?"

Lavender nodded. "Uh huh. What about it?"

"I don't think he's following through with it. He seems so distant right now."

"Distant?" Lavender looked at Ron, who shrugged. "How so?"

"Well for one thing he was in such a hurry to escape from the Great Hall and get to his first class this morning. How often do you see Harry Potter of all people do something like that? And he forgot to take me with him so I had to shout 'wait up' so he wouldn't forget to say goodbye to me!"

Lavender sniggered. "That IS strange. Well--maybe it's nothing."

"I told her he probably has a lot on his mind," Ron suggested as they entered the dungeons. Professor Snape looked up and gave them a very nasty look as they joined Harry in the middle section.

"Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to show up." Professor Snape scowled as he stood up and walked in front of his class. "Late to your first Potions Lesson. What does that tell us?"

Hermione swallowed nervously as Snape stared straight into her eyes and she could feel her cheeks burning. "I'm sorry, sir." She apologized quietly. Harry looked at Hermione with a sympathetic smile and she smiled back.

"NO SMILING WILL BE TOLERATED." Snape snapped, jolting the two of them so that they were paying attention. "Miss Granger--you will sit over here next to Mr. Malfoy. I won't have you and Mr. Potter acting lovey-dovey in my class."

The Slytherin students sniggered as Hermione, on the verge of tears already, picked up her books and moved to sit next to Draco, who was grinning slyly at Harry.

This scolding set the tone for the rest of the lesson. Professor Snape collected their summer essays, smirking as he glanced over Harry's and Ron's and showing Malfoys as an example of a well-done piece of work. Then they were going to begin making sleeping potions, which were supposedly very simple and that if anyone screwed up they would not last in the course for the rest of the term. It was such a miserable experience that Hermione burst into tears the moment she was far enough away from the classroom not to be heard. Harry hurried over to her and pulled her into a hug. "He's worse this year than he's ever been," Ron snarled. "We ought to report him to Dumbledore."

"Shhhhh--it's all right, Hermione." Harry whispered, rubbing her back as her shoulder shook. "No, Ron, we won't report him. He's ALWAYS like this to students who aren't in his house. You know that." This made Hermione cry even harder.

Malfoy approached them moments later, sneering. "Hullo, Potter. I see you've got yourself a girlfriend."

"Get out of here, Malfoy," Harry warned.

"A pure blood dating a filthy mudblood. Honesty, Scarhead, wouldn't you have even the least bit of decency?"

That did it. Harry gave Hermione over to Ron and slugged Malfoy right in the nose, knocking the boy to the ground. Hermione's mouth fell open. "HARRY!" She cried as Harry then dove on Malfoy and the two got into a wrestling match. Harry ignored the fact that his chest was starting to tighten. How dare Malfoy insult Hermione that way--he wouldn't tolerate it. Hermione meant too much to him. "Stop it! Please stop it! Ron--go and get help!" Hermione screamed at her friend. Just in time, Professor Lupin was on his way down the hallway and saw the fight between the two boys and immediately pulled Harry off of Draco. Each of them had a black eye and Malfoy's nose was bleeding.

"What is the meaning of this?" Lupin asked in shock. Harry was now feeling very lightheaded and was having a bit of trouble drawing a decent breath without pain seering through his lungs. "Harry--do you have your inhaler with you?" Professor Lupin asked, noticing the difference in the boy straight away. Harry was hardly able to speak but he pointed to his bag and Hermione hurried and dug through it, pulling out the small gray-coloured tube. Malfoy snorted.

"I don't know WHY you're so urgent to defend a Mudblood, Potter." Malfoy growled. "They're a disgrace to our kind anyway."

"That was uncalled for, Mr. Malfoy. Ten points from Slytherin and I'll report this incident to Professor Snape."

With one more scowl, Malfoy turned on his heel and stormed off, leaving Harry to sink to the floor, exhaustion taking over. Hermione sat down to cradle her boyfriend in her arms, and let him lean against her chest. He was heaving rather heavily, and she fanned his face with her hand.

"Do you need to go to the nurse, Harry?" He asked with concern.

Harry shook his head, coughing a bit. "I'm fine, Professor. Thank you."

"Can you stand?" Hermione asked. "Lean on me. We have the next class together anyway--" Harry leaned on Hermione as she helped him up and then she let him wrap his arm around her until he could walk on his own without stumbling. "Your first official asthma attack at school," Ron shuddered.

"Yeah." coughed Harry. "And right in front of Malfoy of all people."

Hermione kissed him. "I love you so much--you're so great." She giggled.

Harry kissed her back. "I couldn't let him insult my girlfriend like that." He winked. Ron the had to break off and go to Muggle Studies and Hermione and Harry headed towards Professor Binn's classroom for History of Magic with the Hufflepuffs. The old ghost was certainly NOT Professor Snape, but he was far from exciting. He had a droning voice and spent all of his classes lecturing. He greeted Harry and Hermione with a respectful nod when they entered and pointed to the empty table towards the back of the room.

"Your assignments please." He asked and Harry and Hermoine turned in their essays. (Harry spent most of his last two weeks of summer making up his homework for his classes so he would be prepared when the term started) Whenever Hermione saw that Harry was starting to nod off, she would nudge him with her arm and point to his notebook. Professor Binns didnt waste anytime and gave them their first major essay that would be due in two classes--a report on the difference between Mage's and Wizards and the background that caused their dislike for each other.

"For heaven's sake--what does this have to do with midevil magic?" Hermione asked as she and Harry headed down to the Great Hall for lunch.

Harry smiled. "Not sure--I guess it has something to do with the foundation of--"

"Hiya, Harry!" A familiar voice interrupted him and Harry was soon blinded by the flash of an enormous camera.

"Colin--hullo," Harry greeted once his eyes adjusted.

"I've heard you don't have a scar anymore," Colin panted. "Can I see?"

Harry looked at Hermione who shrugged, and he brushed his bangs away from his forehead.

CLICK. "Whoa." gasped Colin. "Are you happy it's gone? I sure would be."

Harry chuckled. "I don't know--it still hasn't quite sunk in that it's gone yet."

"I heard you were sick all summer too. Feeling better?"

"Yes, Colin. I am." Harry insisted. "I don't mean to be rude, but can you give Hermione and I some privacy for a bit?"

Colin nodded. "Sure. I'll see ya later, Harry." Colin hurried off to the Gryffindor table and Harry pulled Hermione away from the entrance into a corner of the hallway. No words were exchanged, but he lowered his lips to hers and they began to kiss. Soon Hermone had her arms around him and the two had to steady themselves against the wall so that they wouldn't fall on top of each other to the floor.

"I needed that," Harry said when they parted. "God you're so beautiful." He touched her cheek.

Hermione smiled. "You were worrying me for a little bit there." She admitted.

"How?" asked Harry, leaning his forehead against hers.

"I don't know. I was probably just imagining things." She kissed him again. "Come on, love--let's go and grab some food so we can pay attention the rest of the afternoon."

Harry stopped her from leaving. "One more." He promised, kissing her and she laughed.

"You scamp. Come on, Harry." She took his hand and pulled him into the Great Hall.


	25. Chapter 25 Snuggling

Chapter 26 Snuggling

The rest of the first day passed by smoothly but slowly for Harry. By the time he met up with Ron and Hermione to head to the Great Hall for dinner he was feeling very tired. Hermione gave him a good look up and down and suggested that he go to the hospital wing to get a check up. "It's always better to be safe than sorry. I hope you aren't catching a cold or something."

Ron took a bite of a chicken leg. "Really," He agreed. "A bad cold could possibly kill you at this point since you're still in recovery from your last illness."

Harry's reply was a loud sneeze. "I'm FINE," He insisted. "My allergies have just been working up a lot today."

Hermione shook her head. "I hope that's all it is, Harry." She told him.

When Erin, Jessica and Lavender arrived, they were exhausted too. "Geeze-WHAT a day, eh?" Lavender asked, sitting down beside Ron and letting her backpack fall to the ground with a soft THUD. Jess and Erin took seats across from her and lookd ready to fall right into their plates. "I have so much homework already. Are you feeling, okay Harry? You look wiped out-more than me, even!"

"I'm all right. Just my allergies working u-u..." He sneezed again and then looked at Hermione. "I think I'm going to take your advice and head on to the hospital wing. Want to come with me?"

She nodded. "Sure. I'll see you guys later, then." She told the rest of her friends. Jess's reply was a raise of the hand and Hermione laced her fingers through Harry's and they headed out of the Great Hall. On the way to the hospital wing, Harry sneezed three more times, having to lean against the wall with exhaustion.

"Bless you." Laughed Hermione.

"Thanks. I wonder what's bothering me."

"I have no idea." Hermione admitted. "But I'm sure Madame Pomfrey will be able to help you." She wrapped an arm around him as they finally entered the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey was cleaning bedpans when she looked up to see the couple and smiled pleasantly.

"Hullo you two. What's wrong, Harry?" She added.

"I've been sneezing a lot in the past two hours," Harry replied. "I think I need an allergy shot."

The nurse nodded in understanding. "Well-yes, all right. Let me just get my things together and we'll get you settled. Have a seat on one of the cots and I'll be right with you."

Harry and Hermione sat down and didn't speak for a few moments, but gazed around. Hermione leaned her head against Harry's shoulder and he leaned his head against hers. Both of them didn't notice when Madame Pomfrey returned with the needle and pulled up a chair in front of Harry. "Here we are." She told them and they jumped. "I just need you to roll up your sleeve, Harry and we'll..." THUD.

Hermione gasped as Harry slid to the floor in a dead faint.

"Oh for heaven's sake. For all he's been through, you'd think a needle wouldn't be a big deal." Hermione sniggered as she knelt down beside Harry.

"I'll just give it to him while he's out, Hermione. Just unroll his sleeve for me-that's it. Thank you." Hermione grimaced when Madame Pomfrey stuck the needle into Harry's arm, after rubbing it with a bit of alcohol. "There. He should feel better within an hour or so. Let's get him onto a bed and wake him up."

Hermione aided the nurse in lifting Harry onto the cot, and smelling salts were used to bring Harry back. "Wha-what happened?" Harry asked in a tired voice.

"You fainted," Hermione giggled.

"I did? Why?"

"Madame Pomfrey had to give you an allergy shot."

"Oh." He blinked. "Thanks."

"Anytime, Harry. I would suggest heading off to bed early tonight. The medicine doesn't usually go into effect for at least an hour, I was telling Hermione."

Harry nodded with a yawn, and Hermione helped him stand. "Good night, Madame Pomfrey." She said and then led Harry to the Gryffindor Tower. When they reached the common room, it was empty, because their classmates were still at dinner. They took this as a perfect opportunity to snuggle up in one of the cushioned armchairs by the warm fire. Hermione wrapped a thick blanket over the both of them and snuggled against Harry's chest. Harry wrapped his arms around her, sighing in content as he gazed up at the ceiling.

By the time Ron, Lavender, Jess and Erin returned, they found Harry and Hermione sound asleep on one of the chairs. "Oh my gosh-they are so cute!" Jess gasped.

Lavender turned to Ron. "Don't you DARE think about waking them." She hissed. She tiptoed over and pulled the blanket closer to Hermione's neck before tiptoeing back to Ron. "We should do that one time," She whispered. "How about we do it now?" Ron asked with a wink. "As long as we don't wake Harry and Hermione. Good night, you two." He told Jess and Erin.

Jess frowned. "Okay, okay-I get the hint. Night, guys. See you in the morning." She led Erin up the stairs to the girls' dormitory and Lavender went to get a blanket for herself and Ron.

"Couple sleepout," She told him when she arrived back to the common room, and she and Ron settled into a chair. Ron wrapped his arms around Lavender and kissed her.

"Comfy?" He asked in a whisper.

She nodded. "Uh huh."

Pretty soon, all four of them were sound asleep. The only noise that could be heard was the fire crackling and the soft late summer breeze beating against the window.


	26. Chapter 26 Musical Snape !

Chapter 26  
Musical Snape?!

Harry was a bit surprised when he woke up the next morning to find that he and Hermione were still sitting in the common room. He was even more surprised when he noticed that Ron and Lavender were only a few chairs away, but shrugged. He yawned and glanced at his watch, which read 8:30. " 'Mione," He whispered, nudging the still-sleeping girl. She muttered something inaudible and opened a bleary eye.

"Whazzat?" She asked.

"Time to get up for class."

Hermione lifted her head and stretched her arms up in the air. Then she immediately fell right back against Harry's chest and started snoring again. Harry rolled his eyes and lifted her. "Uh uh. You have to get up, 'Mione."

"Nooooooo." She whimpered. "Too cozy."

"Then I'll have to tickle you," Harry teased.

Hermione gasped. "You wouldn't DARE," she snapped. "Harry Potter--stop it!" She squealed when he started tickling her sides. She was soon laughing so hard that she fell on the floor. He laughed and helped her up and then went to wake Ron and Lavender, who were just as miserable first thing in the morning. Everyone shuffled upstairs to their dormitories to change and then met in the common room again with their schoolbags, and made their way down to the Great Hall. Jess and Erin were already there but paid them no mind as they were deep in conversation and giggling about something. Lavender raised an eyebrow as she took a seat and she dropped her napsack on the ground by her chair. Bacon, eggs and toast appeared on her plate moments later and she started eating, half-listening to the chatter around her.

"Don't let Snape get to you, Hermione." Harry encouraged, noticing her glum face.

"It's hard not to." She replied quietly, nibbling on her tea biscuit.

When breakfast ended, those who had to said their goodbyes and see you later's before heading off to classes. Harry had Charms first and Hermione had Arithmancy but they had Potions second period. "I'll see you in a bit," Harry told her with a smile.

"K." She waved and watched as he disapperaed into a crowd of students who had just left the Great Hall. She entered Professor Vector's classroom before anyone else, and helped him grade homework assignments while they waited for class to start. She had begun the Arithmancy course in her third year, and though she had been in course overload, she still enjoyed it and decided to keep it. All of her other courses she dropped, because she had been too stressed out about taking so many at once.

"Thank you, Miss Granger." Professor Vector told her with a smile once the rest of the class filed into the room, and urged her to go to her seat. Hermione usually sat in the front with Hannah Abbot--a Hufflepuff student, and the two girls smiled at each other.

By the time class ended, Hermione saw numbers everywhere--they had been solving equations all class period and her brain was fried. She met up with Harry on the way to the dungeons and he laughed when he saw how glazed over her eyes were. "Are you okay, Hermione?" He asked as they went downstairs. She nodded dumbly.

"Uh huh."

"If it's too much for you, why don't you drop the class?" Harry suggested.

Hermione shook her head. "Oh I couldn't," She told him. "It's my favorite class. It's--" What else it was Harry never heard, because they were soon in Snape's classroom and found that he was setting up the labs for that day. They had put their sleeping potion on hold and would be finishing it today, and Harry hoped that his and Neville's would turn out. Neville inspected his potions kit and said

"I have an extra toad skin if you need it, Harry. I thought it called for two."

"Well I think so." Harry replied.

Snape sent them straight to work as soon as everyone arrived, and Harry took a spoonful of powdered goat liver, grimacing at the horrid smell it produced. Neville went to put in a dash of asphodel leaf but accidentally knocked in a container of snake venom. As a result the potion exploded and the cauldron shot straight into the air, landing directly on Snape's head. Everyone gasped in horror as the smoke began to dissolve. Neville's face had turned white as a sheet, and he was very tempted to run. Hermione had her hand over her mouth and was watching as Snape slowly lifted the cauldron off of his head, dropping it to the ground. So far, no horrific transformation of his original form had occurred, but he had turned red as an apple.

"S-sir?" Seamus asked nervously. "Are you all right?"

Snape blinked and then turned to Harry and Neville.

"I'm very sorry, Professor," Neville sobbed. "It was an accident!"

"SING, POTTER!" Snape suddenly bellowed. "Sing or five points will be taken from Gryffindor!"

Harry's eyes bulged with shock and he turned to Ron and Hermione, whose mouths were hanging open and their eyes were just as wide.

"WHAT?" Harry asked.

"You heard me, Potter!" Snape snapped. "And if I like what I hear I MIGHT add a point to your house."

Neville nudged Harry's arm. "You'd better do what he says, Harry."

"Urm--what do you want me to sing, sir?" He asked, feeling very stupid. He'd never sung in front of anyone before and was especially embarassed to sing in front of one his least favorite Professors.

"Whatever, Potter, but sing and sing NOW!"

"Uh--" Harry cleared his throat. "Twinkle, twinkle, little star--how I wonder what you are--up above the world so high--like a diamond in the sky--twinkle, twinkle little star--how i wonder what you are." He finished the song and wasn't the least bit surprised to hear complete silence following it. Snape was rubbing his chin and giving him the once over.

"Not bad, Potter. Not bad at all. Take the point I promised you."

"Um--thank you, sir." Harry replied.

Ron sniggered and then Snape turned to him. "You too, Weasley. I want to hear you sing."

Ron gulped. "Me? But--"

"No butts!"

Hermione whispered something in Ron's ear and he nodded. "Silent night--holy night--all was calm--all was bright--round yon virgin mother and child--holy infant so tender and mild--sleep in heavenly peace--"

"That's enough. Take another point, Gryffindor. Yes, yes, very nice."

Neville looked at Harry and then glanced down at his half empty cauldron on the floor. "Uh oh." He whispered.

"What?" Harry whispered.

"N-nothing."

"Listen up," Snape began loudly, getting everyone's attention. "I would like to announce that I am going to put on a broadway musical this year for Hogwarts. ALL OF YOU," He began, eyeing everyone in the room including Malfoy, whose face was slowly turning blue from surpressed laughter, "Will audition."

Seamus and Dean were staring at each other following this statement when Snape continued, "I will post a flyer about it on the bulliten board and I will speak with Professor Dumbledore about the arrangements that need to be made." He paused. "And have I made it perfectly clear that EVERYONE will audition? Because if you don't show up, then that will cost your house a good five points. Get back to work!" With a swish of his cape he headed back over to his desk and sat down, starting to scribble something on a piece of parchment. Harry stared at Neville at this point.

"You don't think your potion--"

"Oh NO, Harry!" Neville whispered. "What have I done?" He asked. "I'm going to be expelled--"

"No you won't," Hermione insisted. "Not if no one tells Professor Dumbledore. And we won't. But this--if Snape is really serious about this show he wants to put on, then he's officially lost his marbles!"

Ron sniggered.

When Potions ended, everyone was in pandemonium talking about Snape's sudden interest in musical theatre. "Brilliant, Neville!" said Dean. "I'm not sure how long that potion'll last, but whoa this is cool."

Hermione grabbed Harry's arm. "This is so exciting! A musical! I'm most certainly going to audition!"

Harry shook his head. "What about Quidditch?"

Ron stopped. "Oh--I forgot about that. I wonder if he is really serious about holding auditions and if we do manage to put on a show--we wont have time for Quidditch practices, especially since the entire school will be involved."

"Damn." said Harry.

"Watch it," Hermione warned. "Oh come on, Harry. You can last for a few months without Quidditch."

"But do you really think singing is a good idea for me, Hermione?" Harry asked.

"It's healthier than Quidditch!" Hermione insisted.

"Go and ask Madame Pomfrey," Ron suggested. "I'm sure she'll tell you it's fine. Plus singing always boosts your spirits. BEAUTIFUL DREAMER WAKE UN TO THEE---" He started singing as he walked ahead of them. Harry shook his head and put an arm around Hermione.

"Beautiful dreamer awake unto me---" Hermione continued.

"THE SUN'LL COME OUT TOMORROW--" Ron started again. "TOMORROW--BET YOUR BOTTOM DOLLAR--"

"RON!" Both Harry and Hermione snapped, and he turned to them with a wink.

At that point, Harry and Hermione said goodbye to Ron and headed off towards their next class. Harry found it hard to concentrate again through History of Magic, but that was because he kept thinking about what had happened to Snape in Potions. Neville's potion had gone awry as usual and now the Potions master had suddenly taken an extreme interest in musical theatre--was it possible? Harry wasn't sure, but he knew that if Snape DID post a flyer, he'd have to write to Sirius, who would find the whole idea absolutely priceless. 'That would be good,' Harry thought to himself as he copied down notes. 'We all need a bit of humor right now.'


	27. Chapter 27 Rumors Confirmed

Chapter 27 Rumors Confirmed

After dinner that evening, Harry, Ron and Hermione were in the library working on homework. The dust from the old shelves made Harry sneeze so much that Madame Pince ordered him to find somewhere else to study. "Let's get up to the common room then," said Ron. "We can't have you studying all by yourself."

Harry smiled at his friends as they gathered their books together and the trio made their way to the Gryffindor tower. "I'm sorry you aren't feeling good," said Hermione.

"Which is why I think you should SIIIINNNNGGG!" Ron bellowed, but yelped when Hermione whacked him on the arm with her arithmancy book. "OW!" He cried. "Geeze, Hermione, that hurt!"

Hermione rolled her eyes as she wrapped an arm around Harry's waist. He had grown a bit taller over the past summer, but he had grown much thinner because he had been so sick. Hermione hoped it would wear off-she wanted her old Harry back. Right before they entered the common room, Harry let out an enormous sneeze and at that exact moment, Jessica was heading down the corridor with Colin. "Bless you!" She called cheerfully.

"Thanks, Jess." Harry sniffed. "Hullo, Colin."

"Some sneeze, Harry!" Colin teased.

"Did you hear?" asked Jess with excitement.

"Hear what?" asked Harry miserably after Hermione shouted the password and the group headed inside of the tower.

"That Snape's putting on a musical, of course! Don't tell me you three haven't heard! It's only one of the juiciest piece of gossip going around Hogwarts now!"

Hermione laughed. "He is thinking about it." She told them.

"Really?" asked Colin, just as Harry proceeded to sneeze again.

"Bless you." Said Ron and Hermione in unison.

"Yep." Hermione admitted. "Wait till you hear what happened!"

Jess sat down next in the armchair beside Harry's. "Tell me!" She cried.

Hermione, Ron and Colin sat down as well, and Hermione told the entire story about what had occurred earlier that afternoon in their Potions class with Neville's cauldron exploding, and the potion splashing all over Snape. "So something must have changed the sleeping potion into something else, but we have no idea what. Snape doesn't remember being hit with the potion, which is good at least, but we're not sure how long the effect will last."

"What a brilliant accident!" giggled Jess. "If he really IS serious about putting on a show, I wonder which one it will be. I'd love to see the expression on Dumbledore's face when he asks him."

"Knowing Dumbledore, he'll be pleased," Harry laughed. "He seems like the type that would be into that type of thing."

Jess shrugged. "I suppose so."

Harry motioned for Hermione to sit on his lap, and she did so without protest. When the two of them kissed, Colin leaned forward. "So Harry- what's kissing like?"

Jess stood up and pecked one on Colin's cheek. "That." She teased.

He stared. "What'd you do that for?" He asked.

"You asked what a kiss was like and I gave you one."

Hermione shook her head with a small smile.

"Yes, but I didn't mean from YOU." Colin teased.

"WELL!" Jess huffed. Hermione handed Jess her arithmancy book and Jess smacked Colin on the arm with it. "Thank you." She returned the book back to Hermione with a nod.

"Where's Lavender?" asked Harry.

"She had to see Professor Flitwick about something after dinner." Ron replied. "She said she shouldn't be too late."

"You look like you're on withdrawl." Hermione joked, bending down to kiss Harry again. "You look really sexy tonight." She whispered.

"Really?" Harry snorted. "How do I look when I'm not sick?"

Hermione shrugged. "You're not really sick, though." She kissed him again before turning back to Jess. "So, Jess-how are you enjoying your first year at Hogwarts?"

Jess grinned. "I LOVE it. Well-most of it-I hate Peeves-that stupid ghost."

Hermione nodded. "I haven't met up with him yet this year, but he can get pretty nasty."

"He pulled my nose yesterday and said GOT YOUR CONK! How RUDE is that? I say very!"

Harry sneezed loudly again at that moment, but he didn't see Erin coming downstairs with her black cat Miko. It had very smoothe, sleek fur and bright yellow eyes that gleamed in the firelight. Crookshanks lay by Hermione's feet, watching the newcomer, and swishing his tail back and forth.

"That's a beautiful cat, Erin," Hermione breathed, coming over. "Can I pet him?"

Erin nodded, and Hermione stretched out her hand to let the cat smell her first, before touching it's soft fur.

"It's my stepmother's cat, actually," Erin explained. "when she found out I was going to Hogwarts and needed a pet, she let me borrow him. We have another grey and black cat named Zeeke, but we figured this one looked more witch-like."

Harry chuckled. "Your parents are divorced?" he asked, and she nodded.

"Yes," she replied. "When I was three. They've since remarried, but all of them are muggles. Well, my grandfather on my Dad's side is a wizard...my Dad is a squib. I'm the only one with real magic ability." she smiled shyly, and Harry nodded in understanding, his eyes closing partially as he felt another urge to sneeze. He did so, turning away from Hermione, who was sitting on his lap again.

"Bless you," everyone told him in unison, and Harry coughed to clear the congestion from his throat, accepting a pack of tissues from Hermione.

"Thanks, love," he whispered, and she kissed him on the cheek.

"The HILLS ARE ALIVE-WITH THE SOUND OF MUUUUUSIC!" Ron began singing as he stood up from his chair and walked away from the group. Hermione gave a threatening glare to his back and then turned back to Jess and Erin with sympathetic smiles.

"So, Erin-what else is new?" She asked with a laugh.

Before breakfast the following morning, Harry, Ron and Hermione noticed an enormous crowd by the bulliten board that held special event notices and other things that were occuring in the wizarding world.

"What's going on?" Harry asked. He had woken up with a small sinus infection, so it sounded more like "Whads goig od?"

"You're not going to BELIEVE this, Harry, but Snape wasn't kidding us!" Seamus cried. "Come here-read this flyer!"

Hermione pushed through the crowd and accepted the flyer from Dean. It read:

PROFESSOR SEVERUS SNAPE WILL BE HOLDING AUDITIONS FOR THE BROADWAY MUSICAL **PHANTOM OF THE OPERA**. ALL STUDENTS ARE EXPECTED TO ARRIVE AT 8:00 SHARP IN THE AUDITORIUM. THIS WILL BE A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE FOR ALL. BE PREPARED WITH A PIECE OF MUSIC TO SING AT THE AUDITION. SCRIPTS OF THE SHOW WILL BE PROVIDED.

Ron burst into laughter. "Bloody hell-he's cracked his top!"

"Officially," snorted Dean. "So, Ron-are you going to audition?"

"We have to. He threatened to take points from our house if we didn't show up, so I'm guessing he'll be keeping pretty close tabs." Ron's eyes widened. "Whoa-hold on, but read this!"

Harry read what Ron's finger was pointing at, and he felt his heart sink: AS A RESULT, QUIDDITCH MATCHES WILL BE CANCELED TILL THE SPRING. APOLOGIES TO ALL TEAM CAPTAINS-THIS IS A LAST MINUTE EVENT.

"Oh no!" said Alicia Spinnet, who was on the Gryffindor Quidditch team with Harry.

"You'll survive," Hermione sniggered.

"Hermione-I have to go and see Madame Pomfrey. Maybe there's a way I can get a medical excuse out of this show." He took his girlfriend's hand and drug her to the hospital wing.

Unfortunately, the idea of Harry's participating in the musical thrilled the school nurse.

"It would be wonderful for you!" She cried. "You'll have a wonderful time, I promise. And it will not be too taxing for your health either."

"It won't?" Harry asked with surprise, closing his eyes as Madame Pomfrey inserted another needle into his arm. This was his second allergy shot in two days, because they had been working up so badly.

"Of course not."

"As Ron says," Hermione began, "SIIIINGING helps you CHEEER up." She kissed Harry on the cheek.

Harry raised his eyes at Hermione, as though she had gone completely looney. "Perhaps you'll need to give her a check up too, Madame Pomfrey." He said with concern.


	28. Chapter 28 Auditions

Chapter 28 Auditions

The rest of the first week of the term couldn't go more slowly for the students at Hogwarts. By Friday night everyone knew about the audition, and the house common rooms were taken over by different acts. Harry hadn't been feeling too well all day Friday a a result of his allergies, and spent most of the evening curled up in one of the empty cushioned armchairs towards the back of the common room, watching everyone. He could faintly hear Hermione singing the song "My Favorite Things" from the Sound of Music. She jumped about three feet when Ron came up behind her and sung loudly

"How do we solve a problem like HERMIONE?"

"Ron!" Hermione snapped.

Ron laughed. "I didn't mean to INTERRUPT you or anything, 'Mione." He winked and continued singing the song as he headed over to the otherside of the room. Hermione rolled her eyes and turned to Harry.

"Ooh!" She stomped her foot in irritation. Then she turned to Harry. "So have you decided on a piece for your audition yet?" She asked. "Snape said you could sing anything."

"Not sure," Harry admitted. "The last thing on my mind at the moment is the musical. I feel pretty cruddy today."

Hermione nodded, smiling with sympathy. She suddenly heard the sound of gargling and turned to see Jessica who was laughing hysterically and asking her friend Erin "What are you doing?" after noticing the glass of water in the girl's hand. Hermione shook her head before asking Harry to scootch over so she could sit down beside him.

"You look cold. I hope you aren't running a fever." She placed a hand against his forehead. "Nope." She kissed him. "So any ideas of what you want to sing?" She added. "The audition's tomorrow morning so you have to pick a song now. I can give you some ideas, if you'd like."

He stroked her cheek. "I could just use the song I sang in his class. That's simple enough."

Hermione scoffed, "Oh please, Harry. Try something a bit more challenging. Even if you want to sing a Christmas carol like Ron did-that would be good. Can I hear you sing Jingle Bells?"

Harry sniggered. "Dashing through the snow-in a one-horse open sleigh- o'er the fields we go, laughing all the way."

"Bells on Bobtail ring-making spirits bright," sung Lavender.

"Now what fun it is to sing a sleighing song tonight!" Jessica finished.

"Is that your song, Harry?" Lavender asked with a giggle. "You could sing 'Music of the Night' from the Phantom of the Opera, since that's the play we're doing."

Hermione thought for a moment, and then she grinned. "How about this:

_There were bells on the hill_

_But I never heard them ringing,_

_No, I never heard them at all_

_Till there was you._

_There were birds in the sky_

_But I never saw them winging_

_No I never saw them at all_

_Till there was you._

_And there was music,_

_And there were wonderful roses,_

_They tell me,_

_In sweet fragrant meadows of dawn, and dew._

_There was love all around_

_But I never heard it singing_

_No, I never heard it at all_

_Till there was you!_

Harry smiled when she finished singing. "I like that. What show is that from?" He asked. Lavener gasped.

"The Music Man," Hermione replied. "I saw it a few years ago on television. Oh this one is PERFECT for Harry-how about: _Goodnight, my someone,_

_Goodnight, my love,_

_Sleep tight, my someone,_

_Sleep tight, my love,_

_Our star is shining it's brightest light_

_For goodnight, my love, for goodnight._

_Sweet dreams be yours, dear,_

_If dreams there be_

_Sweet dreams to carry you close to me._

_I wish they may and I wish they might_

_Now goodnight, my someone, goodnight_

_True love can be whispered from heart to heart_

_When lovers are parted they say_

_But I must depend on a wish and a star_

_As long as my heart doesn't know who you are._

_Sweet dreams be yours dear,_

_If dreams there be_

_Sweet dreams to carry you close to me._

_I wish they may and I wish they might_

_Now goodnight, my someone, goodnight._

_Goodnight,_

_Goodnight_. You'd have to be looking straight at me while singing it, because that'll really bring the passion into your voice."

Harry nodded. "I'll sing that one."

"I think I have the soundtrack upstairs," hermione added. "I have my portable diskman because Hogwarts cant use electricity...but you can use my earphones." she placed a kiss on Harry's lips, causing him to smile afterwards, and bolted up to the girl's dormitory.

"She's loony," Ron whispered, and Lavender punched him playfully on the arm.

While Harry waited for her, he hoped he wasn't going to have trouble singing on a stage. The idea of auditioning for a show didn't thrill him, but he certainly couldn't back out since the threat of loosing points for Gryffindor was on his mind. Those thoughts did not help him to sleep easily that night.

On Saturday morning, the Hogwarts auditorium was packed with students from every house, and Harry could see Professor Snape talking with Professor's Dumbledore and McGonagall. He also caught sight of Professor Lupin who was standing in a corner talking with tiny Professor Flitwick, and Harry also noticed that a big piano stood by the stage. Hermione sat beside him in the audience and she had her eyes closed as though she were trying to remember what the lyrics to her piece were. Harry had listened to "Goodnight my Someone Goodnight" over and over again the night before, and was now officially stuck inside of his head.

"You're actually auditioning, Potter?" A voice suddenly broke through his thoughts and he turned around to see Draco Malfoy sitting in the row behind him.

"What's it to you, Malfoy?" Harry snapped. "You know we all have to audition."

"What part do you think you'll get?"

"The lead of course," Hermione retorted.

"Hah!" Malfoy sniggered. "That'll be the day. It's in the bag for me."

"I wouldn't be so sure of yourself, Malfoy," Hermione warned.

Malfoy was just about to comment on her statement when Professor Snape announced that the auditions were about to begin. Hermione took a deep breath and grabbed Harry's hand as a stress-reliever. "I will call all of you up in alphabetical order!" Professor Snape began. "Professor Lupin has graciously accepted the responsibility of playing the piano for the audition, so I would like it if you gave him a big round of applause."

Ron nudged Harry's arm. "He never told us he could play an instrument!" He whispered in surprise.

Hermione shrugged. "Professor's don't have to tell their students EVERYTHING," She whispered back, clapping along with the rest of the school as she watched the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher sit down at the bench and position himself so that he was comfortable. Harry sniggered.

"I wonder if Sirius knows about this."

"Did you write him about the play yet?" Hermione asked.

When Harry didn't respond, she folded her arms. "I can't believe you didn't write to him about it! You HAVE to write to him tonight!"

"Harry would probably be too nervous if Sirius wanted to see him audition," Ron whispered, trying to block out one of the first year Ravenclaw's number "Doe a Deer" from the Sound of Music.

"I promise I'll write to him tonight," Harry insisted. "I've been kind of out-of-it lately and didn't think about it."

Hermione nodded, leaning back in her chair, her eyes fixed to the stage. Usually the singing part of an audition was the most difficult. When she was called to go up, Harry mouthed "I love You" to her and she smiled with a wave. She stood up on stage, facing the enormous audience and could feel the beads of sweat start to pop out on her forehead. She handed the sheet music to Professor Lupin before going onto the stage and he gave her the thumbs up as he began to play. It took a few moments to get over her nerves, but soon her voice broke out loud and clear and she noticed the expressions of shock on the Slytherin students who were sitting along the left side of the auditorium. She also caught sight of Jessica who was rolling her fists in a little dance and mouthing "Go Hermione" "Go Hermione".

Hermione sang "On my Own" from Les Miserables, and Harry actually felt tears choking his throat as she wandered about the stage, making eye contact with him.

"_I love him...but every day I'm learning! All my life...I'll always be pretending! Without me, the world will go on turning, the world is full of happiness that I have ever known...I love him...I love him...I love him...but only on my own..._"

When she finished singing, Hermione didn't even notice the students from her house standing up, cheering and clapping and whistling. She just wanted to get back to her seat and burry her head against Harry or fall through a hole in the ground. "You were great!" Harry cried, hugging her.

"I-I was?" Hermione asked with a small grin. "Really?"

"Would I lie to you?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow. She smiled again.

"I suppose not."

"Breathe, Hermione." Ron laughed as she sat down again, still appearing very stiff.

The auditions seemed to take forever, but it was too soon when Snape called out "Harry Potter!"

It seemed as though the entire school stopped speaking, and all eyes were on him as he made his way down the isle and towards the stage. He looked at Professor Lupin on the piano bench who whispered "Good luck, Harry."

"Thank you, sir." Harry whispered back, climbing the stairs. Snape had his arms folded and was sitting in the front row.

"Show us what you can do, Potter." He spoke. Harry nodded and took a deep breath, looking at Hermione and Ron, who were leaning forward, keeping a close eye on him. When the music started to play, it was absolutely amazing. Harry blocked everything around him out and focused only on the notes. His voice came out in an almost angelic tone and he hit every key perfectly. The music seemed to carry him away to a distant land where he was safe from any danger, and he wished he could stay there. When he finished the song, noticed the looks of complete awe in the faces of the Professors and his classmates. Hermione had tears rolling down her cheeks from where she sat towards the back of the auditorium, and the expression on Malfoy's face was priceless-his mouth was hanging open and his eyes were as wide as saucers.

"Thank you." Snape broke in. "You may go back to your seat now."

"Huh?" Harry turned.

"You're finished, Harry." Lupin sniggered. "Got a bit carried away there, did we?"

Harry nodded. "Guess so. Um-thank you." He stepped down from the stage and headed back to his seat. When he got there, he noticed that Ron wore the same expression as Malfoy. "What?" He asked with confusion.

"Harry-where did you learn to sing like that?"

"I-I didn't," Harry admitted.

"You were-amazing," said Hermione, wiping her tears away. "Absolutely amazing."

"Not bad, Scarhead." Malfoy spoke up.

Harry turned around. "Uh-thanks."

The rest of the audition was not as stressful. Snape called students up two by two to read lines from the 42nd Street script. "There are also dancing numbers and that will be held on a different day," Snape told them. "Ballet will be the main form of dancing. Those auditions will be held this coming Wednesday after classes end."

It was at that moment that they were dismissed, and Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him out into the hall. "You HAVE to write to Sirius right this minute," She said. "I swear-you're going to get the lead!"

"I wouldn't go that far, Hermione." Harry chuckled. "There were plenty of good voices out there."

"But YOU," Hermione breathed. "You were inredible! I think a few people were crying!"

Harry smiled and put his arm around Herimone's shoulders. "Let's say you and I take a walk around the grounds outside." He suggested. "I need to spend some time alone with you-away from everyone else."

"But..."

"And don't say we shouldn't because of my allergies," Harry interrupted. "I don't care about them right now. I only care about you." He kissed her softly. "I need you so much. I feel so much stronger when you are here with me."

Hermione leaned against his shoulder. "I'm glad you do, Harry. I need you so much, too. Let's get away now before anyone sees us."

The two of them made their way out of the castle before the crowds left the auditorium.


	29. Chapter 29 Learning the Ways

Chapter 29 Learning the Ways

By the time Harry and Hermione returned to the Castle, it was nearly time for lunch. However, food was the last thing on Harry's mind. He felt incredibly lousy from having been around all of the pollen, and wanted to just curl up on one of the cushioned armchairs and rest for a few hours. "Do you want me to bring you anything from the Great Hall?" Hermione asked after getting him settled and wrapped in blankets.

"That would be great, Hermione. Nothing too heavy, though."

"Like a bowl of soup?" She suggested as he blew his nose on a tissue. Soup was one of Harry's favorite foods to eat when he didn't feel well. At that moment, the sound of tapping could be heard from the common room window, and Hermione went to open it. She saw Hedwig fluttering outside and the owl swooped past her, landing on the arm of Harry's chair. Bound to her leg was a note, and Harry anxiously untied it.

"It's a note from Sirius!" He said, still holding a tissue in one hand as he opened the letter with the other. Hermione knelt down by his feet and prepared to listen, anxious to see what the response was. It read:

_Dear Harry, _

_I am glad you are feeling well, though I do hope you are taking care of your allergies and asthma. _

_All I have to say about Snape directing a broadway musical is this: _

_AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! _

_I love you and will see you later, Sirius _

_p.s. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! _

Hermione burst into giggles when Harry finished reading the letter. "That is exactly the type of response I expected from him," She sniggered. "Well, honey-I'll be back with your lunch in a bit. I'm starving so I'm going to head down there." She kissed him and stood up just as he sneezed. "Bless you." She told him before turning to leave the tower.

Harry watched the portrait hole close behind Hermione and he snuggled into his cocoon of blankets before sneezing yet again. He hated feeling so clogged up all of the time and so tired, but he also knew that he couldn't use his illness as a crutch-it wasn't worth it. Plus, he loved Hermione so much and wanted to be the kind of boyfriend she needed. He proceeded to sneeze twice in a row just as the portrait hole opened again and Jessica entered. His mouth fell open when he saw what she looked like and he stopped her, asking what on Earth had happened, for Jessica had sprouted feathers!

She shook her head and opened her mouth to speak but she squawked instead. Then Harry knew exactly what had happened. "Oh no-Fred and George. The Canary Crèmes, right?" He asked and she nodded, her eyes filled with tears. "Don't worry, Jess. You're not the only one who was fooled by them. It'll wear off in a bit."

Without another word, Jess turned and headed up to the girl's dormitory and Harry could hear the door slam behind her. Erin entered a few feet behind her and was in the exact same condition. She waved to Harry and sat down on the bottom step leading to the girl's wing, and leaned her chin in her palm. "Who did they get first?" Harry asked. Then his nose suddenly wrinkled up and he sneezed loudly. This caused Erin to stand and she pointed to her feathers and then to her nose since she couldn't talk in a normal, human voice. He shrugged. "That's not possible-I can't be allergic to feathers-I haven't sneezed around Hedwig yet!"

Erin shrugged and waved to him as she went to join her other friend. When the two younger girls were gone, Harry took a deep breath. His chest hurt from sneezing so hard, and now his nose was completely blocked. He glanced up at the ceiling and attempted to get comfortable again and fall asleep. He only awoke when Hermione came back to the tower with his lunch tray and gave him a gentle shake.

"Mmm mmm." He mumbled, when she tried to encourage him to take a few spoonfuls of the soup. Alarmed, Hermione felt his forehead and cheek, but found no fever.

"You just want to sleep Harry?" She asked.

He nodded. "Mmmm hmmm." He mumbled.

She sighed and stroked his hair. "All right, then. I'll just set this aside and put a heating charm on it in case you get hungry later. You really should eat something, though."

Harry opened a bleary eye, and from his position on the chair could only see the hem of her skirt. She knelt down and grinned. "Cozy are we?" She teased, noticing how wrapped up he was.

"Did you see Jess and Erin?" Harry croaked, finally forcing himself to sit up straight.

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "No. What about them?"

"Well, they're learning about the Weasley twins the hard way. Both of them ate a Canary Crème and are probably sqwaking away upstairs."

Hermione shook her head with a roll of her eyes. "Those two- HONESTLY." She smiled again. "So-are you ready for the dance audition?"

Harry sneezed before answering. "Dance what?"

"For the play, doofus!" She laughed. "We still have to dance for Snape before we can get our roles. Want to see what I've been working on?"

Harry looked a bit frightened. "Urm-sure."

"It's a bit of tap and ballet. I took two years of each when I was little-um-I accidentally turned my dance instructor's hair green and that's how my parents figured something was up with me."

Harry laughed. "No kidding? I turned my teacher's hair blue!"

Hermione giggled. "Well anyway-watch this. This is called a shuffle." She started kicking her heels along the rug and for a few minutes the dance reminded Harry more of an Irish jig than tap dancing, only her legs weren't kicking up high enough. When she finished, she bowed and he clapped, just as the portrait hole opened yet again and Ron stepped in with Lavender. As a joke, Hermione tap-danced in a circle around Ron, who had one eyebrow raised and his arms folded when she'd finished.

"Hey happy feet," He sniggered. "Chill out."

"Is that for the dance audition, Hermione?" asked Lavender.

"Yep! What did you think?"

"Great! I didn't know you could tap dance!" She linked arms with Hermione and the two of them started dancing together. As they were doing this, Ron shook his head and turned to Harry.

"So why didn't you come to lunch?" He asked.

"Wasn't feeling well," Harry admitted.

"Oh, that's too bad, but I-WHOA! Did I ASK to be part of your troupe? Hey!" Ron cried when Lavender grabbed his arm and urged him into their routine.

"Kick up your feet, Ron!" Lavender encouraged through her laughter. At that moment, Jess and Erin descended the stairs feather-free and stopped on the bottom step watching the process with open-mouths. At that point, Ginny, followed by a group of her Gryffindor friends, tap-danced into the tower, much to Harry's surprise and he had a feeling it was all a set-up to make him feel better.

"What is this?" He cried. When the number ended, everyone broke into roars of laughter, including Harry, who was clapping again for them.

"You guys have very odd ways of cheering me up," He sniggered.

"Only the best for you." Hermione chortled. "So now will you eat before I have to spoon feed you? And I know how much you HATE being pampered." She lifted the lunch tray and placed it onto Harry's lap, and soon the common room broke into conversation coming from different angles.

"I love you, Hermione." Harry told his girlfriend, embracing her in a tight hug. She hugged him right back, kissing the top of his head.

"I love you too, Harry."

"SAPPINESS!" Ron sung in an operetic voice.

"Oh shush, you georgous hunk of man you." Lavender teased, wrapping her arms around him and planting her lips on his. Harry peered into the mug on the tray and noticed a dark liquid in it with whipped cream swirled in.

"What is this?" He asked, because with his blocked nose he could hardly smell it.

"Hot chocolate of course!"

"Ohhhhhh." He took a sip, grimacing as it nearly burned his lips, so he had to blow on it to cool it down. He'd only had hot chocolate one other time-in the Knight bus the summer before his third year. Actually-he'd gotten close to having it, but the assistant, Stan, had accidentally spilled it all over his pillow, so technically this was the first time he'd ever really tried it.

Lavender found that very hard to believe and she told Harry so.

"Well-I never got treats like this at the Dursleys and was too sick over the summer to have anything heavy," Harry explained. "But this is really good."

Hermione blushed. "That's good."

After taking his third sip, Harry looked up at his friends. "So what time is that dance audition?" He asked, causing them all to smile.


	30. Chapter 30 Go Into Your Dance

Chapter 30 Go Into Your Dance

By Wednesday morning, Harry felt a bit better, but still tired and stuffed up. He yawned and stretched his arms over his head, gazing out of the dormitory window. It promised to be a semi-cool, overcast day. "Harry! Come on-we're going to be late!" The door to the boy's dormitory burst open and Ron entered. "The auditions-remember?"

Harry jolted and slid out of bed, dressing quickly. The two of them made a bee-line for the auditorium and found Hermione sitting towards the back again, waiting for them.

"Hi!" She greeted. "I'm sorry I didn't wait up for you, Harry," She apologized, kissing him once he sat down beside her. "I didn't want to be late."

He kissed her again. "That's all right. I slept in a little." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and smiled when she snuggled against him. Lavender kissed Ron.

"Snape's discussing the music with Lupin-he said we'd be starting in about five minutes, so you just made it."

Harry coughed. "Oh good."

"Still feeling sick today?" Hermione asked with concern.

"A little, but I'll be okay. You just concentrate on getting your movements right up there."

Hermione nodded. "I've been practicing all weekend and the past two nights. I think I have it down now."

Soon everything was set and the auditions were to begin. Hermione could see the heads of Erin and Jessica up front, and was surprised to see that they sat beside Fred and George Weasley, and the four of them were discussing something in hushed voices. Actually, Hermione had seen the four of them together at breakfast that morning as well, and wondered what they were plotting. Suddenly Professor Snape turned around to face his students and silenced them. "I want to congratulate everyone on a very nice audition Saturday."

Cheers erupted from the crowd and then Snape held his hand up in the air. "However-it is not over yet. As I am sure all of you know, this is the dance audition. I hope everyone is well prepared. Again, give a round of applause for Professor Lupin on the piano."

More cheers and clapping. "Whoooo hooooo!" A deeper voice shouted afterwards.

Harry gasped and turned around, to see Sirius standing at the back of the auditorium. He nudged Hermione's arm and she turned around, her lips breaking into a smile. He stood up and went to greet his godfather, who hugged and kissed him.

"I didn't think you were coming to the auditions!" Harry said.

"I'm sorry I missed your other one, but of course you didn't tell me till afterwards. Are you ready, Harry?"

"Course he is." Hermione came up behind Harry and wrapped her arms around him.

"Hullo, Hermione." Sirius greeted with a grin. "Now I do hope the three of you are staying out of trouble this year."

"So far we have been," Harry laughed.

"Well that's good. Listen, Harry-go back and sit with Lavender and Ron-I'm going to sit in this last row. Good luck, kid." He waved and watched as Harry and Hermione went back to join their friends. Sirius caught Lupin's eye and the two of them saluted each other before the auditions began again. Jessica and Erin looked a tad confused when they saw the strange man sitting in the back row, but figured he had as much of a right to be there as they did, so they didn't make a fuss.

"Who is that?" Jessica asked Fred, who was watching the stage as one of the Hufflepuff second-years went up.

"Sirius Black," He replied.

"Sirius Black? No kidding-not that escaped convict?" Erin cried.

"He's not a convict anymore," George explained. "He was freed last year. It's a long story and we'll tell you later. So you two know your plans, right?" He winked and the girls giggled mischeviously.

Meanwhile, Hermione leaned towards Harry and whispered in his ear, "I hope this isn't a Slytherin-slanted cast. I just thought about that. You know how much Snape favors his students over the rest."

Harry looked at her-he hadn't even thought of that. "I'm sure it won't be," He said. "I mean-Professor Dumbledore will have some influence too with the cast I'm sure."

Hermione took a deep breath as she turned back to the act on stage. When the first few acts were over, Snape called out "Jessica Brown and Erin McShannan have chosen to perform a duet piece. If you please." He encouraged them to approach the stage, and the two little girls did as they were told, but both looked a little too innocent to Hermione.

"What have those brother's of yours done?" Lavender asked Ron. "I KNOW they've been corrupting my cousin and I don't like it one bit."

Ron shrugged. "I couldn't tell you, Lavender." He admitted.

The two Gryffindor first-year's audition went smoothly for the most part. Right at the very end, both of them took something out of their skirt pockets, and popped the things into their mouths. POP. Everyone gasped as they suddenly sprouted feathers.

"Oh!" Lavender cried.

But then Jessica and Erin began to do the chicken dance, which caused roars of laughter from the rest of the school. Professor Snape was apalled by this, but the Weasley twins had doubled over in laughter as well. The chicken dance continued (Lupin was playing the music that went along with it, because he thought it was the funniest thing he had ever seen) until Professor McGonagall came out on stage, lifted both girls by the collars of their shirts, and drug them away. Then she came back out again and motioned for Fred and George to come up, and soon had each of the twins by the ear and drug them away too. Hermione, Harry, Ron and Lavender were laughing at this point.

"Those two," Hermione giggled. "I'll bet Fred and George wanted to find people to pass on their traditions. Preferably helpless first years." Harry nudged her arm with a snigger at the comment "Helpless" and she rolled her eyes and quickly changed her words to "Okay-inexperienced first years."

"And they picked the perfect two." Lavender sniggered. "Oops..." She added, when Professor Snape called her name.

"Good luck, babe." Ron whispered, waving her on and watched as she hurried down the isle to the stage. Lavender had put together a combination of tap and ballet moves, and clicked all the way around the stage. She was also very flexible, and made everyone grimace whenever she'd bend backwards. "God!" said Ron, closing his eyes after he watched Lavender do a full split. When she finished, she bowed, receiving a burst of applause from particuarily the Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Gryffidor houses. The Slytherins never clapped (or they did faintly) for anyone other than their own house members, which was a bit annoying to Harry. He had hoped that they would have had a bit more common curtesy in the theater. He suddenly stifled a sneeze with his hand, causing Ron and Hermione to jump a little, because even his stifled sneezes were very loud.

"Bless you." Hermione whispered.

"Thanks." He sniffed and looked back at Sirius, who was giving him the once over.

Eventually, Hermione and Ron went up to do a dance number together, and received giggles from a few of their classmates. Quite a few had expected the two of them to get together and not Hermione and Harry, though they accepted their misconception.

Lavender and Harry watched the two of them on stage with wide eyes, and were amazed by how excellent their dance piece turned out to be. Ron, during one portion, had lifted Hermione into the air and spun her around (Hermione was very light and thin so it wasn't too difficult) and then dipped her so that her head was almost touching the floor. At this, Harry felt his heart nearly freeze and he held his breath, but sighed with relief when Ron returned her to the ground again. The piece ended with Ron lifting Hermione high into the air, so that she was lying flat on her stomach, one leg kicked up. This received probably the biggest applause from the audience, and Sirius even stood up, whistling, along with the rest of the school. When the two friends descended to their seats, Hermione threw her arms around Harry, laughing and he kissed her.

"You guys were fantastic!" Lavender cried. "If you don't get a lead role, I'll eat my wand!"

Ron snorted. "Which I am sure will taste fabulous, huh?" He kissed Lavender on the cheek before sitting down again.

When it was Harry's turn to go, he felt the butterflies working up in his stomach due to his nerves. With the help of Hermione, he had come up with a decent tap dance routine and had the moves down pretty well. Everyone seemed to be amazed as he tapped away, but he didn't pay attention to the audience. He found that if he stared right ahead at the back wall of the theater that he felt less nervous.

By the time the dance auditions ended, everyone was exhausted and famished, because it was nearing the lunch hour. Even Harry, who hadn't been feeling well the past couple of days, was feeling his normal appetite return again. "Good job all!" Snape announced as everyone gathered their things and prepared to head out of the auditorium. "I will post the cast list in a couple of weeks."

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Lavender met up with Sirius and headed towards the Great Hall.

"I didn't want to ask you this earlier, Harry, and I know you're going to be annoyed, but have you been feeling all right lately?" Sirius asked after Harry had sneezed a few times following their exit. Hermione scrounged around in her bag for a tissue and handed one to him.

"I've been all right," Harry admitted. "My allergies have really been working up lately. I've had two allergy shots since I've been here."

Sirius placed a hand against his godson's forehead just to be sure. "No fever. Well-just keep taking care of yourself. I don't want you to wind up in the hospital again."

Harry shuddered. He didn't want to wind up in the hospital again either-it had not been a pleasant experience.

"Don't worry, Sirius," Hermione started, wrapping her arm around Harry's waist. "We're taking good care of him."

Sirius smiled. "Good."

They entered the Great Hall and Sirius went up to the staff table to talk to Professor Lupin and the four friends sat at the Gryffindor table. Erin and Jess were there, both looking particuarily glum about something, and Lavender probbed Jess to tell her what had gone on in their heads when they played that prank on stage.

"Fred and George influenced you, didn't they?" she asked.

Jess nodded, taking a bite of her chicken-pot-pie. "Uh huh."

"I knew it. Well, girls, just be forwarned---those two have devilish minds and can't always be trusted. They are pretty decent most of the time, though."

The little ones nodded. "How did you do at the audition, Hermione?" asked Erin. "Professor McGonagall held us all captive in her office for the rest of it."

"Fairly well."

"Fairly?" Ron cried. "We were wicked, Hermione!"

"Did you two get a detention?" Lavender asked her cousin with a raised eyebrow.

Jess nodded. "Both of us."

"My first detention ever," Erin wailed. "We have to clean the trophies with Filch and not using magic!"

Harry laughed.

"But Fred and George got one too," Jess broke in. "They have to clean out the boy's bathroom."

Everyone burst into laughter at her information. "Good," Lavender said haughtily. "they deserve it. Corrupting my baby cousin like that." She proceeded to grab Jessica's nose and the girl cried out,

"Nah! Lavender-I hate it when you DO that! I'm not a baby!"

"Aren't you?" Lavender teased, ruffling the younger girl's hair.

The rest of the afternoon passed by rather quickly, and Harry, Ron and Hermione spent quite a bit of it studying and finishing up homework for the following day. Sirius had to go back to London that night, because he had found a better job in Diagon Alley working for Gringotts bank (Harry was so happy to hear this) and had to be to work early the next morning. "But write to me as soon as you find out what part you get and I'll definitely come to the show," Sirius promised.

"I will, Sirius." Harry replied, nodding.

"We'll tape a note to his forehead," teased Ron. "So he doesn't forget."

Hermione sniggered. "We'll see you later then I guess."

With that, Sirius nodded and apparated out of the common room. "Well," said Harry, yawning and stretching. "I'm really tired-I'm going to get to bed." He kissed Hermione on the cheek. "Great job tonight."

"You too," Hermione added. "Hey." She set her charms assignment on the chair and went up to hug him. Lavender and Ron watched with half smiles as the two parted and Harry went off to bed.


	31. Chapter 31 At the Edge of the Forest

Chapter 31 At the Edge of the Forest

At breakfast the following morning, Harry once again couldn't seem to stop sneezing. Hermione sighed after a while, setting her fork down on the table and rubbing Harry's back once the most recent fit ended. Lavender and Ron were staring at him wide-eyed. "Your face is bright red," Lavender told Harry with sympathy. "You should go to the nurse."

"She's right, Harry." Hermione added. "You haven't stopped sneezing since you woke up this morning."

Harry sniffed. "It feels good to be able to take a deep breath." He told them and they chuckled. Jessica and Erin arrived at the Great Hall, both looking exhausted. They had been up late the night before serving their detentions and were not pleased about it. Harry sneezed again just as the two girls took their seats, and Erin cocked her head.

"You all right, Harry?" She asked with concern.

"I'm fine." He choked.

Ron had an idea. "Say-we should go and visit Hagrid after classes end today just to see what he's been up to. Have you ever been inside of his cabin, Lavender?"

Lavender shook her head. She'd met the half-giant plenty of times, obviously, but she'd never set foot inside of the lopsided hut at the edge of the forbidden forest and the idea pleased her.

"Can we come too?" Jess asked. "We've only met Hagrid once."

"I suppose," Ron laughed. "When classes end we'll meet at the portrait hole and head out from there."

Breakfast was finished hastily and Hermione, after much encouraging, managed to urge Harry to the hospital wing for an allergy check-up. Madame Pomfrey checked his breathing and his pulse, and then checked the pollen chart. "Yes, Mr. Potter, you are in for a rather rough afternoon. I can give you your allergy shot but it won't really go into effect for another hour."

"That's all right." Harry insisted. "I just need SOMETHING to keep me going."

The nurse smiled as she took out the needle and the rubbing alcohol. Harry hated this part, but he had gotten over it after fainting the first time. Ron and Lavender had never let him live that one down, that was for certain. Even though they teased him mercilessly, they still would hug him and pat him on the back assuring him they were just joking around.

"So where is Hermione?" Madame Pomfrey, watching as Harry squeezed his eyes shut and held his breath while she stuck the needle into his arm.

"In class. She had to ask her arithmancy teacher a quick question and didn't want to interrupt him during the lesson with it. Thanks." He added, once Madame Pomfrey put the materials away.

"So I hear you tried out for the play, eh?" The nurse smiled. "That is wonderful, Harry. I hope you get a decent role." She wrote him a note to excuse him for being late to his first class (Herbology) and he headed off to the Greenhouse. Madame Sprout had them growing athelas plants (poison reducers), and the smell was a bit much for Harry at that particular time. He had to turn his head whenever he had to sneeze, because the plants were so tiny that he'd blow them away. His partner, Seamus, shook his head everytime he exploded.

"I'm tired of saying bless you every five minutes." Seamus laughed. "How about I just say it once and use it for all of them?"

"Whatever you want." Harry replied, wiping his slightly watery eyes with his hand. Professor Sprout, who had been keeping tabs on how many times Harry had sneezed, walked over to them.

"Good. Bless you, then."

Harry smiled weakly.

"Mr. Potter-are you sure you're all right? Do you need to go to the nurse? Don't want you catching a chill now." The teachers were informed of the incident that summer, so were advised to keep an

Harry shook his head. "No, Professor. I was already there-it's just my allergies. Madame Pomfrey gave me an allergy shot and it isn't supposed to go into effect for at least another half hour."

The herbology teacher shook her head. "I see. Well, if you're not feeling well, you can go back up to your dormitory and rest. I'll still give you full marks for being here, but excuse you for medical reasons."

Harry looked at Seamus who was trimming part of the plant with a pair of small clippers. He looked up when he felt Harry's eyes on him and frowned. "It's okay with me, Harry. I can finish this up no problem."

"Go on, Mr. Potter." Professor Sprout let him out of class, much to the annoyance of Malfoy, who was working with his love-interest, Pansy Parkinson a few tables away. Harry gathered up his things and said goodbye to Seamus before heading back to the Gryffindor Tower. He sneezed just before he reached the portrait hole, waking the pink lady, who did not appear pleased.

"Password." She said in a huffy voice.

"Florishescu." Harry said as clearly as he could and the portrait swung open, revealing an empty common room. Harry decided it wasn't safe to go up to bed, because he didn't want to miss his next class, so he sat down in his usual armchair and set his napsack on the floor beside the chair, pulling out his assignment for his Potion's Class. He had already finished it, but he wanted to make sure there weren't any flaws so Snape couldn't come up with an excuse to give him a poor grade. He soon found it too difficult to concentrate as he was constantly blowing his nose and sniffling, and by the time he actually felt decent enough to work on it, it was time for his next class.

He met up with Hermione in the corridor, and she was stunned to hear that Professor Sprout had given him leave because of his allergies. "Well, I couldn't stop sneezing and she thought it was better if I went back to the tower and rested a bit. I do feel a lot better now since the medicine's kicking in."

Hermione nodded in agreement. "You still sound pretty clogged up, though."

"Oh well-I'll live." He planted a kiss on their cheek just before they entered the dungeon. Snape sat at his desk deep in concentration, and Harry could certainly assume that the man was preparing the cast list. He noticed that every so often, Snape would cross something out and write something else in its place. When class began, he put the parchment aside and went to stand in front of the room to begin his usual lecture before they began their labs. He still had no idea that he had been doused with Neville's potion, and that was fine with the Gryffindors. They certainly didn't want poor Neville to get into trouble, because that seemed to be all that happened to the boy.

Hermione was given the privelage to sit with Ron that day, but Harry had to sit with Malfoy, who took the liberty of tormenting him throughout the lesson. "So just because you happen to be one of the only wizards with muggle illnesses means that you're better than everybody else?" He asked haughtily. "I'll bet," He continued, "That it's just all a big act."

Harry ignored Malfoy as he worked on his potion. Hermione whispered to Ron from across the room, "I'd slug Malfoy in the nose if we weren't in class."

Ron sniggered. "YOU'D slug Malfoy?"

"I've smacked him before. Don't you remember?" She asked.

"Oh-right."

Classes went by in a blur for Harry for the rest of the afternoon. He, despite how tired he felt, was still perfectly willing to head down to Hagrid's with Hermione, Ron, Lavender, Jess and Erin. The half-giant was thrilled to have so much company at one time, and he greeted them with a big smile.

"Glad ter see yeh!" He said, clasping Ron on the back. "Come in, come in. I'll make yeh all a nice cup o' tea."

Harry suddenly felt the inside of his nose itch. Hermione seemed to sense that he was going to sneeze, because she immediately stomped on his toe. "OW!" He cried in alarm, glaring at her. "What was that for?"

"To keep you from sneezing," She whispered.

"Oh. Thanks." He kissed her and then settled back into the huge couch.

"So-what can I do for yeh?" He sat down at the large table and smiled at Erin and Jessica, who were gazing around in awe. They were still tiny for their ages, so their feet barely touched the ground.

"Not much, Hagrid. Just wanted to see what you've been up to lately." Answered Ron. "Have you met Jessica or Erin yet? They're new Gryffindor first years."

Hagrid shook both of the younger girls' hands. "Nice ter meet the two o' yeh. Don' mind the mess-been bakin' cookies all mornin'."

Harry sniggered. "Cookies? What for?" He asked.

"Just because I feel like bakin'." He winked at Hermione who giggled, her arm still around Harry. "Try one and see what yeh think." He handed her a particularily large-seemingly chocolate chip cookie and looked at Harry, who shrugged. She bit into it and chewed thoughtfully.

"It's really good, Hagrid!" She exclaimed, breaking off a piece and handing it to Harry. Hagrid was often famous for his rock cakes, which could break a person's teeth. Hagrid was very pleased with her response, so he handed each of them a cookie.

"How have yeh been feelin', Harry?" Hagrid asked.

An enormous sneeze was Hagrid's reply, and Harry accepted a large, pink handkerchief. "Bless you," Everyone told him at once.

"Thanks. I'm sorry, Hagrid." He apologized, blowing his nose.

"Not a problem. Sounds like yeh have a bit of a cold there."

"No-just allergies." He sniffed and looked at the handkerchief he held in his hand, contemplating on whether to hand it back to Hagrid or not.

"Eh? Aller what?" Hagrid asked, taking a sip of tea and then pouring cups for the others.

"Allergies," Hermione explained. "A muggle disease. Certain things make him sneeze." She kissed Harry's cheek.

"I see, I see. Yeh can keep that, Harry." Hagrid pointed to the hanky, noticing the boy's contemplative expression.

"Oh-thanks." He sniffed again.

"Well for a chap yer size you have quite a sneeze." Hagrid chortled, patting Harry on the shoulder.

"He sure does." Laughed Hermione.

"Say Hagrid," Lavender began, "What are you growing this year? I saw you had your big pink umbrella out there again."

Hagrid nodded. "Yeah-I'm growin' corn."

"Corn?" asked Ron.

"Well I did pumpkins already, so I figured I'd try somethin' else."

"Soon you'll need flesh eating crow repellent," Jess joked and everyone laughed.

"Well-haven' had much trouble yet with the pests, but that doesn' mean I won't." Hagrid admitted, grimacing as Harry blew his nose again.

"Have you dusted around here lately?" Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow. "Harry's really allergic to dust and he seems to be sneezing and sniffling quite a bit in here. Not to be mean or anything, but..."

"No offense taken." Hagrid insisted. "Actually, yer right-I haven' cleaned properly in ages."

Harry gave Hagrid a half-smile. "It's not your fault, Hagrid. It's my stupid nose."

Jess laughed. "Poor Harry." She comforted.

"Well never mind. It's getting late anyway-we really should be getting back up to the school," said Hermione, helping Harry stand up. "We just wanted to see how you were doing."

"Well it was nice seein' all of yeh as usual." Hagrid replied with a grin. "I always love havin' visitors so don't ever hesitate to come by and see me. That goes for you two as well." He pointed at Erin and Jess who were smiling also.

"Thanks Hagrid. We'll certainly stop by again. Thank you for the tea and cookies." Said Erin, curtsying a bit, before following the rest of her friends out onto the grounds. It was just starting to get dark, so the group had to hurry inside before any of the Professors realized they had left.

"Hagrid is brilliant!" Jess told Lavender as she walked beside her cousin.

"He is wonderful." Hermione agreed.

"It wouldn't be Hogwarts without him," added Harry, and that in deed, was the truth.


	32. Chapter 32 The Cast List

Chapter 32 The Cast List

A few weeks later, Hermione, Ron, Lavender and Harry sat in the courtyard enjoying a chat during their break between classes. "HEY YOU GUYS!" Jessica yelled as she and Erin bolted out of the castle towards them. Lavender jumped nearly three feet into the air as a result and gave her cousin a nasty look.

"What?" She asked.

"Snape's posted the cast list for the musical! I saw a group around the bulletin board! Come on!"

Harry's eyes widened as Hermione helped him stand up and the group headed back inside of the castle. They followed Jess down the corridor and up the stairs till they came to the floor with the bulletin board and sure enough, there was a group of students standing around it. "Wow!" Cried one first year from Hufflepuff. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Lavender had to fight their way to get a good look at the list, and Harry's eyes nearly bulged: his name was right at the very top. The list went in order like this:

Raoul de Chagny: Harry Potter  
Christine Daee: .Hermione Granger  
Phantom: Draco Malfoy  
Firmin: Ronald Weasley  
Andre: Neville Longbottom  
Madame Giry: Katie Bell  
Carlotta: Cho Chang  
Buquet: Finch-Fletchley  
Meg: Ginny Weasley  
Lefevre: Marcus Flint  
Carlotta's Maid: Padma Patil  
Christine's Father: Fred Weasley (Fred snorted loudly, and clasped his hand on Hermione's shoulder)  
Carlotta's Wig Maker: Parvati Patil (Understudy; Parvati Patil. "Figures," whispered Alicia Spinnet, with a slight shake of her head.)  
Young Meg: Luna Lovegood  
Young Christine: Terry Boot  
Young Madame Giry: Alicia Spinnet  
Ballerina: Lavender Brown

The rest of the cast list was generally ensemble parts, though that didn't seem to phase anyone. Except for Jess and Erin, however, who were devastated to find that they hadn't gotten any parts at all. "Well," Lavender told them, when she caught their devastated expressions, "That will hopefully show you not to follow the Weasley twin's advice anymore, will it?"

The girls sighed, looking at each other. "Well," said Erin quietly, scuffing the side of her shoe against the ground. "I suppose we could go and offer to help with the sets."

"Lights would be fun!" Jess exclaimed, grabbing Erin's arm. "C'mon, then—let's go and see Professor McGonagall!"

The girls dashed off, leaving Harry, Ron, Hermione and Lavender to snicker after them. "I'm sorry you didn't receive a big role too, Lavender," Harry told his friend apologetically, his arm around Hermione's waist. Lavender shrugged.

"Honestly?" she began, "I'm surprised I was cast at all…I honestly thought I did terribly at my audition!" She received a reassuring kiss from Ron, who promised her she was mistaken.

The four of them continued to read the information sheet, which stated: "Rehearsals will begin the week after Christmas. Please be prepared with ballet shoes if you have a dancing part."

"Carlotta!" squealed Cho. "I can't believe it!"

"Congratulations, Cho." Said Harry rather shyly. Cho smiled.

"You too, Harry. And you also, Hermione."

"Thanks." Hermione smiled back. "Oh, Harry, do you know this story? We get to fall in love with each other all over again." She threw her arms around him, and he kissed her.

"You HAVE to write to Sirius," she added with equal excitement. "I mean- it's amazing that Snape actually chose you for one of the leads."

"Well done, scarhead." Malfoy came up behind Harry who stiffened and turned around.

Hermione rolled her eyes, biting back a very nasty retort.

"You didn't get a bad role either, Malfoy." Harry replied. "You're the lead opposite me."

Malfoy sniggered. "And you think that makes me happy, Potter?" He shrugged and turned to leave the area, not looking back. When he was gone, Harry and Hermione looked at each other, still in amazment.

"We have to go to Defense Against the Dark Arts now," breathed Hermione, "but right after class is lunch and you can write to Sirius then. I'm sure he'll be dying to know what part you got. He probably thinks Malfoy got the lead over you, because usually he's Snape's prized student."

Harry chuckled. "Yeah. Well come on then." He wrapped an arm around Hermione's waist and the two of them said goodbye to Ron and Lavender, who were going to Muggle Studies.

When Harry and Hermione reached Professor Lupin's classroom, the man smiled at the looks of excitement on both of their faces. "I saw the list, Harry and Hermione. Congratulations."

"Thank you, sir." Harry replied as he and Hermione went to sit down.

"What are we studying today?" asked Hermione with interest. Usually Professor Lupin always cooked up a good lesson, and he was by far the favorite teacher of many.

"Blunderburgs. Creatures rather like porcupines who live in sewers and have scales with sharp spikes. And Harry-you do look much better today, I meant to say also."

Harry smiled. He'd been feeling so lousy lately, but today he actually felt refreshed and awake. "I do feel better. Still a bit tired, but nothing like I did last week."

"Well-that's probably because the allergy season is starting to end. Yes-Sirius told me about your allergies, Harry."

"They're not too big of a deal." Harry admitted.

Soon the rest of the class arrived, and the lesson began. They spent most of the period taking notes on the blunderburg and Lupin even had one to show to the class in a padlocked cage. They did in deed look very similar to the porcupine, but they had faces that were rather smushed as though they had run headlong into a tree. "Nasty buggers," Professor Lupin explained. "See these spines? Whenever the victim comes near, they shoot their spines out of their shells. These spines are poisonous and can cause severe illness or even..."

"Death." Said Hermione in a very evil voice, which made everyone laugh, as she normally didn't joke around in class.

"Correct, Hermione." Lupin chuckled. "Nice effect. Five and a half points to Gryffindor."

Parvati giggled. "Five and a half, Professor?"

"Correct, miss Patil. Five and a half." He winked. "Then again, since I am so very kind, I will bump that half up to a full six points. Satisfied now?"

Nods from the rest of the Gryffindor students and more giggles from the Hufflepuffs.

Hermione grinned at Harry who was still sniggering-it was wonderful to see him laughing again. For homework that night, Professor Lupin asked them to write an essay on preventing a Blunderburg from stinging. "To be turned in next class. As usual, late papers will loose points. Have a good afternoon, everyone!" He waved as the bell rang, but pulled Harry and Hermione aside once the others had left the room. "I am really very proud of you two and Ron also," Professor Lupin told them with a grin. "I never would have guessed Snape would have chosen the three of you to be the leads in his musical. The very idea of him putting one on is a laugh, but..."

"I'm sure Dumbledore had some influence," Harry said. "There's no WAY Snape would have just chosen me on his own."

"Harry's right," Hermione added. "It doesn't matter if he was good."

Lupin folded his arms. "Yes. Your father would have been very proud of you, Harry. Have you told Sirius yet?"

Harry sighed. "No, but I'm going to write him a letter right..." He covered his mouth with his hand as soon as he felt his nose twitch, and sneezed loudly. "Excuse me." He apologized. "Right now."

"What made you sneeze, Harry?" asked Professor Lupin.

"Not sure." Harry sniffed. "Could be anything."

"Most likely some dust got in your nose," Hermione suggested. "These rooms ARE very old you know."

"Yes, well, bless you. Here." Professor Lupin fumbled in his cloak pocket for a handkerchief and handed it to Harry, who thanked him. Hermione grimaced as Harry blew his nose.

"I keep stealing your handkerchiefs," Harry laughed. "I'm sorry."

"No trouble, Harry. We're all trying to keep you well. Sirius would have my head if I let you get sick."

Harry sniggered. "Sirius has been VERY overprotective lately. It's a bit annoying, but I can understand why he's been like that." He wiped his nose again, which was still running a little.

Professor Lupin nodded. "He does have the right to be overprotective, Harry. He loves you like a son and it is his duty to keep a close eye on you."

Harry nodded. "I know." He glanced at the handkerchief. "Do you want this back?" He asked.

Lupin shook his head. "No thanks, Harry. Plenty more where that came from." He patted the boy on the shoulder. "Go on and eat, you two. I'll see you tomorrow. And don't forget to write to Sirius."

Harry and Hermione waved as the two of them headed out of the classroom. The two of them quickly headed to the Great Hall and joined Ron and Lavender, who were eating and every now and then taking a break to chat. "Hi!" Lavender greeted, scootching over so Hermione could sit next to her. "Hullo." Hermione replied.

Harry set the blank parchment on the table and took a quill from his bag. Ron blinked and cocked his head, looking very similar to Hedwig as he did this. "Oh----you're writing to Sirius, aren't you?" He asked, and Harry nodded.

"Tell him about your allergies," Hermione reminded Harry, taking a bite of a turkey sandwitch.

Harry nodded as he started to write:

_Dear Sirius,_

_Hello, how are you? I am doing all right. You won't believe it, but Snape gave Hermione, Ron, Lavender and I the lead roles in the play! Or at least three of the lead roles. I am Julian Marsh, Hermione is Christine, Ron is Firmin—whoever that is—I think one of the opera directors. and Lavender is one of the main ballerinas!_

_I was so sure Snape would pick Malfoy or someone for those parts, but surprises can happen. My allergies really have been working up lately. I can't seem to stop sneezing or coughing these days, and Hermione thinks it's the dust. I also MIGHT be allergic to feathers, but that is still up in the air. I've sneezed twice around Hedwig lately! I have been keeping up with my shots--- I get them twice a week from the nurse, and so far I haven't had a fever. _

_As for the Christmas holiday, I would like to come and stay with you. (Hermione grinned as she watched Harry write this particular line) No ideas of what I would like presents-wise, so I would suggest guessing. Do you want anything specific for Christmas? There is a Hogsmeade visit next weekend and I am going to do my shopping then. Let me know right away, or else I'll guess too. Hope you are all right and your new job is going well. I have to go and eat, but I will be expecting a reply from you within the next few days._

_Love, Harry._

"Perfect." Said Hermione as he signed it, and then she kissed him on the cheek. "You can send it with Hedwig after lunch."

"Allergic to feathers?" Lavender asked in surprise. "You didn't tell us you sneezed around Hedwig!"

"Not good, Harry." Ron sighed.

"I sneezed yesterday when I went up to see her in the owlery last night, and then I went to the nurse, who thought I might be allergic to feathers, but she also thought that it could have been the dust in there."

Hermione rubbed his arm. "Well, we'll see. Now go on and eat before I end up feeding you, and I know how much you LOVE that." She teased as he kissed her on the forehead, before helping himself to a sandwitch and chips.


	33. Chapter 33 Hogsmeade

Chapter 33 Hogsmeade

On Thursday morning, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Lavender sat at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall eating a hasty breakfast. That afternoon they were joining the rest of the school on a last Hogsmeade visit before the holidays. Right as he was finishing the last of his porridge, Harry glanced up and saw Hedwig soaring through the window and heading towards him. Hermione grinned. "She probably has a note from Sirius," She whispered, and sure enough, Hedwig had a note attached to her leg when she landed. Harry didn't even notice the fact that everyone had turned silent around him. They were all probably waiting for him to sneeze, since he'd mentioned what had happened in the owlery earlier that week.

"What does it say?" asked Lavender in a small voice when Harry took the letter off and stroked Hedwig's back. He opened the envelope and pulled out a single piece of parchment. On the parchment was a small note scribbled and sure enough, Sirius's name was at the bottom. He set the paper down on the table so the four of them could read it. It read:

_Dear Harry, _

_I hope you are feeling all right today for your Hogsmeade trip. I need to do a bit of shopping myself for the holidays so I will meet you at the Shrieking Shack when you get there._ ("He's meeting you? Oooh!" squealed Lavender happily)

_As for your being allergic to Hedwig, are you sure? You were just in the owlery when you were sneezing, so perhaps the dust in there was bothering you. When you are with her outside of the Owlery, let me know, and we may have to think about trading her in for a toad._ ("Oh no!" Hermione laughed at Harry's horrified expression. "Well, you haven't sneezed yet, so let's just see." Still, Harry could see the amused expression on his godfather's face at this line.)

_I can't wait to see you. I know I shouldn't, but I worry every night about you. I've sent several owls to Dumbledore asking if you'd been in the hospital wing yet, and he's told me to, as the American muggles say, "Chill out man." I can't help it, Harry. I'm just being the overprotective guardian I should be. The one your father would have wanted for you. Anyway- before I start sobbing and blotting up the ink, I'll see you in a few hours! DRESS WARMLY. _

_Sirius _

Harry shook his head with a chuckle as he re-folded the letter and stuffed it into his pocket. He couldn't wait to see Sirius either, but it was almost amusing how much the man worried about him. "You can understand his reasoning, Harry," said Hermione. "We almost lost you a few times because you got that sick." He nodded because he did know that Sirius had every reason to worry, but he still hated feeling like everyone expected him to kick the bucket at any second.

Just as all of them were finishing up eating and Hedwig had gone back to the Owlery (after nipping Harry affectionately on his finger after he gave her one more stroke), Erin and Jess arrived, both looking exceptionally cheerful for having woken up at 7:30 in the morning. Lavender raised an eyebrow after Jess threw her arms around her and shouted "Good morning!"

"What's wrong with you?" Lavender asked, shoving her bowl and goblet away.

"Can't someone be cheerful this early?" Jess asked with a slightly mischevious grin.

"I don't know. Can they?" Ron asked with a roll of his eyes.

"You guys are SO lucky to be able to go to Hogsmeade today," said Erin. "I wish I could go, but unfortunately we can't till our third year. Fred was telling us all about butterbeer-could you perhaps bring us back a few bottles of it? I'll pay you if you'd like." She smiled sweetly at Lavender.

"I'll bring you two back a few bottles of it free of charge. It's the least I can do for the holidays." Lavender chuckled as she stood up. She then noticed Fred and George as they entered the Great Hall, and watched them with her eyes as they headed over to the two young first years.

"The order's in," George told Erin, whose face lit up with excitement.

"It is? Good!"

"Order for what?" asked Hermione with a suspicious look.

Erin blushed a little and looked down at her feet. "It's um-it's a surprise." She replied in a slight stutter. "Come on, then. Let's discuss how we're going to pick all of it up and who's paying." The twins led the little girls over to a more empty spot at the table and they sat down, putting their heads together in a huddle. Lavender groaned inwardly.

"They can't be up to anything good," She told Ron. "That's for sure."

"Don't bother fighting it," He insisted. "If they end up getting into trouble, then that's how they'll learn."

Lavender nodded, but she hated to see her younger cousin get into deep trouble her first year at Hogwarts, especially not after being brainwashed by the Weasley twins.

Around 11:00, the students who were old enough, gathered their money bags and headed to the wizarding villiage of Hogsmeade. It was not quite as large as Diagon Alley, but it still had a good selection of stores and resturaunts, one of the most popular being the Three Broomsticks. Harry had on a pair of thick sweatpants, the sweater Mrs. Weasley had given him the year before, and his heavy winter cloak. "Look for a big black dog," He told the others as they grouped around him as though trying to keep him extra warm with body heat. (Hermione had even insisted on his wearing a hat, gloves and a scarf) Lavender glanced over at the Shrieking Shack.

"Like that one over there?" She asked, her breath coming out in white puffs.

Harry glanced over to where she was pointing, and sure enough, a large black dog sat in front of the broken down manor and was calmly watching passerbys on the street. "That's him." Harry said. "Come on." He led his friends over towards the dog, and they stopped a few inches away. "Hullo, Sirius." He greeted with a smile. The dog looked up at him and grinned a bit before changing into the form of a man.

"Hullo, Harry." Sirius greeted, pulling his godson into a tight hug.

"Hi." Harry replied.

"Are you warm enough?" Siruis asked, looking Harry up and down. Harry laughed.

"Yeah. So. What do you guys want to do?"

Lavender looked around. "Well-I wanted to get some of my Christmas shopping done here, or at least get done what I can afford. We should maybe split up in pairs and then meet at the Three Broomsticks later, so I can pick up the Butterbeer for Erin and Jess."

"Good idea." Said Hermione. "But we'd be a bit uneven, as Sirius is with us."

Sirius smiled. "I'll tell you what. I have to buy a few Christmas gifts myself, some of which Harry can't see, so why don't you four break up into pairs and I'll meet you at the pub around-how about 12:30?"

They agreed with this plan, and broke up. Lavender and Ron went in one direction and Harry and Hermione headed in another. Sirius watched them disappear into two different shops before he quickly scurried into Dervish and Bangs, a wizard clothes shop. Harry and Hermione headed into Honeydukes, which was usually the best place to buy small gifts for their friends. One thing Harry hadn't told Hermione, was that he had purchased her gift a while ago. He had gotten her an owl (or rather-he'd given Sirius the money and asked him to pick it up) since she had always wanted one, and had asked Professor Dumbledore to keep it in his office till the night before they had to leave for the holidays.

They wound up getting most of their friend's gifts at the sweetshop. Harry had gotten Ron a box of Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans. Hermione had gotten Ron a box of Jelly Slugs and Jelly Worms, and Lavender they each got a box of the Every Flavor Beans as well. Hermione had also bought Harry's gift earlier that month using Owl order, but it hadn't arrived yet. She had gotten him wand cleansing kit and a new pair of Quidditch gloves.

"You look a little tired," She told him after they walked back outside. "Are you all right?"

Harry nodded. "Fine." He insisted with a weak smile. They decided to go into Dervish and Bangs to look for a gift for Sirius, since Harry had NO idea what his godfather wanted for Christmas.

"A sweater always goes over well." Hermione promised as they entered the shop. The plump witch at the counter beamed at them as they arrived, and she scurried out from behind to aid them in their shopping.

"What color are you looking for?" The saleslady asked. "Oh-I am Madame Roseline. And Harry Potter-I almost did not recognize you! And who is this pretty young lady?" She turned to Hermione, who blushed.

"My girlfriend-Hermione Granger," Harry replied. "Um-I'm kind of guessing here, because the sweater is for my godfather. I'm not quite sure what colors he wears the most."

"I see, I see. Well, here is a lovely sweater-made from pure hippogriff feathers."

Hermione's face paled. "Made from-from pure WHAT?" She cried in disbelief, looking at Harry, who had turned a slight shade of green at the very idea.

"Hippogriff, dear, Hippogriff." Madame Roseline repeated.

"Er-no thanks." Harry quickly broke in, seeing the murderous warning look on Hermione's face as he began to inspect the feel of the sweater.

"How about this one, Harry? It's really nice." Hermione pulled a brown and tan cotton sweater and handed it to him. "I think Sirius would look good in brown, don't you?"

"Not Sirius Black!" Madame Roseline cried. "That escaped convict is your GODFATHER?"

Hermione slapped her hands over her mouth and Harry blinked. "Oh-he's been set free, actually. He was framed."

"Well it figures-I don't read the papers that often." Madame Roseline chortled. "Anyway-it is up to you, Mr. Potter."

Hermione raised an eyebrow as Harry continued surveying the sweater, and finally he nodded. "I'll take this one then." He leaned towards Hermione. "You don't think that one sweater was made from Buckbeack feathers, do you?" He whispered.

She gave him a slap on the arm. "Don't even SAY such a thing." She hissed. Harry kissed her quickly before going up to the counter and paying for the sweater. On their way out, he wrapped an arm around her waist and leaned his head against hers.

"I love you so much, Hermione." He whispered.

"I love you too." She kissed him. "Let's go to the Three Broomsticks early so we can just relax together, even if the others aren't there yet."

He nodded. "Sounds all right to me, love. Come on, then."

The two of them headed to the pub, hand in hand.

Right on time, Sirius, Lavender and Ron arrived at the pub and were surprised to see Harry and Hermione already on their second bottles of Butterbeer and chatting. "Got done early, eh?"

Harry jumped at the voice of his godfather and looked up to see all three of them. "Ah-hullo. Yes, we did." He sniffed and pointed to the empty bench across from them. "Cold enough?" He asked Lavender, who was rubbing her hands together.

"Tell me about it." She blew into them. "You look a little tired, Harry. Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

Sirius called over the owner and asked for three butterbeers as well and then turned back to his godson. "Harry-are you feeling the least bit achy? You sound a little stuffed up."

Hermione took another swig from her bottle. "Don't catch a cold on me, Harry." She said, taking his hands. "Freezing!" She gasped and wrapped them in her scarf.

"Let me feel your head really quickly."

Harry chose not to protest, figuring it was the better way to go, while Sirius reached over and placed his hand against Harry's forehead. "You're a little warm, bud."

It was then that Harry sneezed loudly twice in a row, and received a handful of napkins from Ron. "Thanks." He choked. "If it is a cold, I wouldn't worry about it. I'll just go and see Madame Pomfrey right when we get back." He finished blowing his nose.

"I think we should head back now, Harry, especially since you're starting to run a bit of a fever."

Harry sighed. "Fine."

Sirius went to tell Professor McGonagall who was sitting with Professor Sprout and Professor Flitwick and announced that he would bring Harry, Ron, Hermione and Lavender back up to the school. She completely understood why and encouraged him to head on out. "Make SURE to get him straight to the hospital wing. We don't want that temperature elevating too much." She told Sirius, who nodded, and returned to the table to see Hermione helping Harry back into his coat.

"It's all set, you four. Let's get back to Hogwarts. I'm sure a dose of Pepperup will do wonders." Sirius smiled and urged Harry and company out of the pub.


	34. Chapter 34 False Alarms

Chapter 34 False Alarm

Madame Pomfrey was not the least bit surprised when Sirius, Ron, Hermione and Lavender brought Harry into the hospital wing. The nurse took Harry over to one of the cots, sat him down, and began the usual check up process. "He honestly does not seem to be all that ill this time," Madame Pomfrey told Sirius calmly. "His temperature is only 100 degrees, and that could also be a result of the amount of layers he's wearing."

Hermione gasped and put her hands over her mouth. "I never thought of that!"

Lavender gave her a hug with a chuckle. "It was just an accident, Hermione, if that is the real problem. You were only trying to help after all."

Harry smiled and silently thanked Lavender for comforting his girlfriend. "You're welcome." Lavender replied with a wink.

Harry broke into a small fit of coughing as he watched the nurse pour a glass of Pepperup potion for him. He'd tried the liquid before but he'd been half conscious when it had been administered, so he did not remember exactly what it tasted or felt like going down.

"Drink every bit of it, Harry." Ron told him.

Harry did as he was told and chugged the medicine down in three large gulps, nearly choking on it. The liquid burned his throat and about a minute later, he heard Lavender giggling furiously.

"What's so funny?" Harry asked, annoyed.

"You're smoking at the ears!" Hermione cried, hurrying over to sit beside him. "It'll be over in a minute..."

Even Sirius was having trouble trying to keep a straight face as Madame Pomfrey handed Harry a compact mirror to look into. "You should see the look on your face," Ron sniggered.

"I can," Harry growled. "Ugh-that stuff is awful."

Madame Pomfrey folded her arms and cocked an eyebrow. "Well, dear, what did you expect it to be? Pumpkin juice?"

Hermione began giggling at the nurse's comment as she pulled Harry into a hug, kissing him on top of the head.

"So, Harry," Madame Pomfrey continued. "congratulations on getting the lead role in the musical! I knew you had the talent. You just didn't believe in yourself enough to do it."

Harry smile weakly. "Thanks. Hermione, Ron and Lavender have lead roles too. Hermione is Christine, Ron is Firmin and Lavender is a ballerina. It's amazing that Professor Snape chose us as leads and not Malfoy."

The nurse nodded. "Well, I am sure all of you will do just brilliantly."

Harry sniffed. "I don't have to spend the night in the hospital wing, do I?" he asked hopefully. He was hoping to cuddle with Hermione a bit that night in the common room.

"No you don't. You're not that sick. The medicine I gave you should help you feel better in a few hours, but you'll probably still feel a bit stuffy. Speaking of stuffy, how are your allergies doing? I have not seen you down here for a shot in quite some time."

Harry laughed. "I've only had a few random sneezing fits in the past few weeks but I have been feeling a lot better when it comes to that."

"Good. Well-off with you now. Just take it easy tonight, Potter."

"I will. Thanks." Harry allowed Hermione to help him up from the bed and they followed the others out into the corridor. They headed into the Gryffindor common room, which was not that crowded as the Hogsmeade trip was still going on. The rest of the school would not be back till around 5:00 and it was just 2:30. Harry pulled Sirius aside and told Hermione that he wanted some privacy for a bit. Hermione nodded and went to sit with Lavender and Ron by the fireplace.

"So are you ready to give Hermione her present?" Sirius whispered as he and Harry sat down in one of the corners of the room.

"Yep. It's sitting in Professor Dumbledore's office. Thanks a lot for getting it for me."

"No problem. It was a really sweet idea, Harry. She'll love it." Sirius ruffled his godson's hair. "She is lucky to have a boyfriend like you."

Harry blushed. "Thanks. She always wanted an owl-I remember her telling Ron and I that in our third year, but Crookshanks won her over before she could even look at the owls. She'll have two pets now." He smiled.

"When are you going to give it to her?" Sirius asked.

"The night before we leave for the holiday," Harry replied. "I thought that was going to be most appropriate."

Sirius nodded. "Yeah. Well, kid, I have to get going. Long day at the office tomorrow." He pointed at his mouth and pretended to gag, making Harry laugh again.

"Have fun." Harry sniggered. "How is your new job going anyway?"

"Fine. It's a job, right? And I'm making money. That's all that counts. I don't even care that I'm a bookkeeper for Gringotts-one of the dullest jobs out there!" He nicked Harry's cheek with his fist. "I'll see you in a week, Harry. Take care of yourself, all right?"

Harry gave Sirius a hug. "Okay. I'll see you at King's Cross then."

Sirius went to say goodbye to the others, and then left the common room. Harry eventually sat down beside Hermione and leaned his head against her shoulder. He was lucky to be dating her. She leaned her cheek against his head, closing her eyes. "You should probably be upstairs getting some sleep," She told him in a quiet voice.

"Mmmm hmmm." Harry replied, yawning. "I'd rather stay right here."

"Oh no you don't. You need to be up in bed and asleep so that your cold will get better. You don't want to be sick when the Christmas holiday's start at the end of next week, do you?" Hermione teased.

Lavender snuggled closer to Ron, who had his arms around her. "And this guy," She teased, giving him a kiss, "is so soft and comfortable-like a pillow. I think we should do a couple sleep out thing down here again like we did that one time."

Hermione gave her girlfriend a threatening look. It was at that moment that she noticed Jessica and Erin who were sitting together by the window, their heads together and scribbling something onto a piece of parchment. "Yeah, but we'll get in trouble if we go then!" Erin cried suddenly, receiving a loud "Shuuuuush!" from Jessica.

"Ignore it," Harry told Hermione. "It's not your problem."

Hermione sighed. "Yeah, well..."

"You know what?" Harry stifled a yawn. "I am really tired and I think I will go up to bed early. It sounds very inviting, though I wish you were coming with me." He winked at Hermione who slapped his arm.

"Pervert!" She yelped.

"Good night." Harry whispered, bending down to kiss her. He sneezed loudly as he headed towards the stairs that lead up to the boy's dormitory and turned around once more to take a last look at Hermione before turning in for the night. "I am very lucky." He said to himself with a smile.


	35. Chapter 35 The Christmas Company

Chapter 35

The Christmas Company

THUD. Harry was awoken ridiculously early the next morning by a series of noises coming from the common room. Neither Ron, Neville, Seamus or Dean had awoken, and when Harry got a look at the time after putting on his glasses, he realized it was five thirty. "Bloody hell, what the…" he muttered, quietly sliding out of bed. Ron let out a grunting snore, but merely turned over, smacking his lips together and burying under his blankets.

Harry smirked, making his way into the hall, and towards the staircase. He peered down, finding Jess and Erin already up and dressed for the day. They were dragging enormous boxes into the common room, red-faced and panting from exertion. Fred and George stepped through the portrait hole behind the girls, carrying even more boxes.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked, as he rushed down the steps. Jess let out a cry of alarm, which startled George into dropping his box on his foot.

"OW!" he snapped. "Blimey, Harry, you scared the daylights out of us, mate!"

"Sorry we woke you," Erin apologized, still panting from the exercise.

"That's…okay," Harry told her. "What is all this?"

The four of them looked at each other awkwardly, and the twins gave Erin and Jess a nod, letting them know it was all right to tell Harry.

"It's wrapping paper, boxes, ribbon, cards..."

"We've created what we've called the Christmas Company," Erin added. "We're going to set up a table in the Great Hall so everyone can get their gifts wrapped before they leave for the holidays. We thought it would be something nice."

Harry smiled at them, shaking his head. So that's what had been going on between the girls and the Weasley twins over the past couple of weeks. "Did you guys just get this stuff?" he asked, and Jess shook her head.

"No," she replied. "We got it from Diagon Alley last week. Professor Lupin's been keeping watch over it for the past few days, but he told us yesterday that we had to come by and get it, because he could barely move anymore…he almost broke his leg tripping over one of the boxes." She gave Harry a sheepish grin. "So we er…we stopped by his office to get it early this morning, before anyone else got up and would notice."

"Ah." Harry wet his lips. "Do you need anymore help?"

George shook his head. "No, mate, thanks. I think we've got it all. We've trained these two well," he whispered, winking as the girls were trying to find a place in the common room to store the boxes so they wouldn't be too overly noticible. There were at least six boxes worth, and of different sizes.

"My invisibility cloak might help hide it somewhat," Harry suggested, and the girls stared at him.

"You've an invisibility cloak?" Jess cried. "Those are really rare, aren't they?"

"Supposedly," Harry agreed, "it belonged to my Dad."

"Besides," Harry looked at Fred and George. "I owe you one for that map."

The twins shook their heads, and smirked. "We were just sharing the wealth, Harry."

"Seriously, though, I wouldn't mind lending it to you until you guys have to set it up," Harry promised, and, after the girls agreed it would be a good idea, he tiptoed back to the dormitory to dig it out of his trunk. Once back downstairs, they covered the boxes as best as they could, and Erin threw her arms around Harry in a rib-crushing hug.

"You're wonderful, Harry," she exclaimed, and he blushed.

"Well, I…"

"All right, then," Fred broke in, checking his watch, and yawning. "Still has about two hours before we have to be up for classes, so we might as well nip back upstairs and get some shut-eye." They disappeared, and Jess and Erin looked at each other.

"We probably should, too," Jess agreed, and Erin smiled.

"I won't wake up," she laughed, "if I go back to sleep. But Harry, you should lay down again. We really are sorry for waking you."

Harry shook his head. "It's nothing," he promised, yawning. "Good luck with that." He looked at the staircase that led towards Hermione's dormitory, and wished he had the opportunity to go up…if only the spell hadn't been placed on the girl's stairwell keeping boys away. Hermione was allowed into his dormitory, because as a rule, it seemed that they were more trustworthy than boys.

"See you later," Jess and Erin told him in unison, making their way up the steps. Harry decided to sit down by the newly lit fire, watching as snow began to fall.

Much to the relief of Harry, Hermione, Ron and Lavender, the last week of school before the Christmas holiday break went by very quickly. On the morning of the last day, Jessica and Erin began to set up their area for the Christmas Company. They had boxes, gift bags, gift wrap, colorful tissue paper, ribbon and little gift cards lying in a neat fashion on one of the tables in the Great Hall. Professor Dumbledore was delighted when he found out about the company, and he brought all of his presents to the girls to have them wrapped.

"As you're the headmaster you get your wrapping done for free," Erin said sweetly when he came up to them at lunch time. Dumbledore chortled and placed a silver sickle into her hand.

"Nonsense. You two worked hard to set this up and you deserve a reward. Here is one for you as well." He handed a silver sickle to Jess too.

"Thank you!" she cried in delight.

The girls sat in the Great Hall for most of the afternoon, as no classes were being held. Random students came up to them and paid to have their presents wrapped. One person completely took them by surprise when he came up: Draco Malfoy. He held a tiny box in his hands and he bent down towards Erin, who was a little pale.

"I don't want the rest of my house to know that I'm allowing a couple of Gryffindor's wrap my present for me. So can you keep this a secret?" He asked hopefully. Erin nodded, accepting his silver sickle. Jess, grinning, reached underneath her chair and brought out a megaphone. She stood on top of the table and shouted:

"ATTENTION ALL STUDENTS! DRACO MALFOY IS LETTING TWO GRYFFINDORS WRAP HIS PRESENT!" She sat down and gave Malfoy an evil smile as the rest of the Great Hall burst into roars of laughter. Malfoy, much to her glee, looked horrified.

"I told you not to tell anyone!" Malfoy cried in disbelief.

Jess cackled "You told ERIN not to tell anyone. You didn't tell ME."

Malfoy scowled as he turned to Erin who was wrapping his gift in bright green paper. "Do you want silver ribbon?" Erin asked, knowing that the Slytherin colors were green and silver. Malfoy nodded, glaring again at Jess, who was writing down something in the account book for the Christmas Company. Lavender and Hermione came into the Great Hall together without the boys, which was unusual.

"AH HA!" Lavender cried out, storming over to her younger cousin. "I KNEW it. I KNEW you two were up to something!"

Jess stared. "Yeeeeah? Your point?"

"Where did you GET all of this?" Hermione asked in horror.

"We didn't steal it!" Erin promised. "We bought it!"

Lavender folded her arms. "Okay. Sure."

"Fine," Jess snapped. "Don't believe us." She stuck her tongue out before taking the next customer, Colin Creevey. Hermione stared at Lavender who rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Come on." She encouraged, and Hermione followed her over to their spot at the Gryffindor table. "Where are the boys anyway?"

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know. Harry told me he had to see Professor Lupin about something. Then he said after that he had to go to Dumbledore's office and that he'd join us later. Wonder what's up?"

Lavender shrugged as she took a sip from her goblet and glanced down at the _Phantom of the Opera_ script she had placed in front of her. Hermione noticed that Lavender had highlighted all of her lines in a yellow marker. "Oh, this is so romantic!" She cleared her throat and pretended to gaze into Hermione's eyes. "_Say you'll love me every waking moment…say you love me…_and then Harry says, "_You know I do_." She sniggered. "It's so perfect for you two, seriously. And kind of fits the whole feel of Hogwarts, having some Phantom ghost popping in and out every now and again."

"I do think I read the original book," Hermione admitted. "It's a very tragic but romantic story at the same time. You're right, it does fit for Hogwarts." She sighed. "I think," Hermione began sadly, "that I am going to be on serious withdrawl without Harry during the holidays. I am so used to having him with me every day and every night and being able to know how he feels at every moment..or most anyway. I'm a little scared about letting him go for a few weeks."

Lavender put a hand on Hermione's shoulder. "You two have been through a lot together. But Sirius is there with him, and if something does happen I'm sure he'll let you know right away."

Hermione nodded. "He did when Harry had bronchitis this summer." She fought back a fresh flood of tears that threatened to fall down her cheeks. "I'm really gonna miss him."

Lavender pulled her friend into a hug, and Hermione finally found it in her to let her emotions out. "Shhhhh. It's okay." Lavender whispered. "It's only for two weeks."

Jessica and Erin noticed the two of them from their station and Erin frowned. "Wonder why Hermione's crying?" She thought aloud. Jess shrugged.

"I don't know. You don't think something happened to Harry that we don't know about, do you?"

"I doubt it. He seemed okay in the common room last night." Erin replied and she chewed on her lower lip nervously.

Hermione, meanwhile, let go of Lavender, wiping her eyes with the palms of her hands. "Sorry." She apologized, noticing the stain her tears had left on Lavender's shirt.

"That's okay. I know Harry's going to be fine. TRUST me, will you?"

Hermione nodded. "Yeah." She looked towards the door of the Great Hall, half-expecting to see Harry and Ron walking through it. 'What are they doing?' she thought to herself, taking a bite of a turkey sandwitch that sat on her plate in front of her. She, however, did not even notice it when they did enter about forty minutes later. Hermione was reading Lavender's script to get her mind off of her slight depression when she felt someone kiss the top of her head. Her eyes widened and she looked up to see Harry standing right behind her.

"Hi!" She cried in excitement, leaping up to throw her arms around him. "I was wondering what happened to you!"

Harry laughed as he hugged her back. "Sorry, Hermione, but I had something to take care of. Mind if I sit down?"

Lavender had gone to hug and kiss Ron and both of the girls rolled their eyes. "Do you HAVE to ask?" Lavender asked, pulling Ron down onto the seat beside hers. Harry wrapped his arm around Hermione's waist and whispered into her ear,

"I have a surprise for you tonight. I don't want you to go into the girls' dormitory until after dinner, okay?"

Hermione cocked her head to one side, very confused. "A surprise? For me?" She asked. "What is it?"

Lavender giggled. "Come on, Hermione. If he told you it wouldn't be a surprise of course!"

Hermione buried her face into Harry's chest. "I'm really going to miss you over the holidays." She whispered as he hugged her.

"I'll miss you too, love. But it'll only be two weeks, and then we'll be together again.

Ron and Lavender were giving each other strange looks, which soon brought them both to giggles, much to the annoyance of Harry and Hermione. Ron then noticed the stand Jess and Erin had set up at the very end of the Gryffindor table and grinned. "What's the Christmas Company?" he asked curiously.

Lavender rolled her eyes. "It's a present-wrapping company."

"Oh! Well, I should bring my stuff over there...I'm horrible at wrapping things myself!"

Lavender gave him an expression of disblief. "I'll be right back," Ron promised, kissing her quickly. "I have to get my gifts."

"K." Lavender sighed as he hurried back to the Gryffindor tower.

Later that day, Hermione and Harry sat in the common room just snuggling and dozing every now and then. Hermione wanted desparately to go up into the dormitory and get some of her schoolwork, but everytime she tried, Harry refused to let her. "Well can't you give me my surprise NOW? What difference would an hour make?" Hermione asked, annoyed.

"It makes all the difference," Harry replied mischeviously.

"You are so stubborn!" Hermione cried.

"Hermione.want to play a game of exploding snap?" Ginny Weasley asked, coming downstairs. Her face was a little pale as she turned to Harry, her eyes wide. Harry shook his head at her and mouthed

"Don't say anything!"

She nodded, suddenly grinning.

"Nah..I'm too comfortable just lying here and being lazy," Hermione replied. "What are you smiling about? You were just in the dormitory, weren't you?"

"No," Ginny squeaked. "I..I had to go to the bathroom."

"What's in there, Ginny?" asked Hermione.

"Don't you dare say a word, Ginny," Harry warned with a threatening glare.

"Ginny Weasley, I thought we were friends!" Hermione gasped.

"We are!" Ginny cried. "I just do not tell secrets!" She smiled. "Harry..can't you let her see it now? I can't stand the suspense either!"

Harry groaned inwardly and rubbed his hand over his face, looking out the common room window, and saw that it was already very dark. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt, Ginny. You've worn me down." He helped Hermione up and laughed as she jumped up and down, looking like a child with a parent.

"Im coming up with you," Harry told her with a grin.

Hermione chuckled. "Great! Let's hope it works. Come on then." She grabbed his hand and the two of them, including Ginny, hurried upstairs to the sixth-year dormitory. Hermione took a deep breath and pushed the door open. Her mouth fell open and her eyes bulged when she saw what sat on her bed: a beautiful silver cage. Inside of the cage perched a great gray owl, speckled with white dots every now and then. Crookshanks lay next to the cage, his great bushy tail swishing back and forth as he watched the intruder beside him.

"Harry," Hermione gasped, feeling a bit faint. "Is that..is that for ME?"

Harry nodded. "Merry Christmas, Hermione."

Hermione couldn't contain her excitement and leapt into Harry's arms, kissing him. "Thank you so much, Harry! I have always wanted an owl!" Then she frowned. "But at Hogwarts I thought students were only allowed to have one pet each," She sighed. "What shall I do with Crookshanks?"

Harry laughed, unlocking the cage and letting the new arrival perch on his hand.

"I've talked it over with Dumbledore," He replied, handing the owl to Hermione, who gratefully let it sit on her arm. "He said you could be the exception to that rule. You can have both Crookshanks and…"

Hermione looked at the owl with affection as it nipped playfully at her nose. "What shall I call it, Ginny?" she asked, smiling at Ron's little sister who was beaming.

"Is it a girl or a boy, Harry?" Ginny asked.

"It's a boy," Harry replied.

"So now Hedwig and whats-his-name can date, eh?" Hermione teased.

"Funny," Harry teased.

"A boy...hmm." Ginny thought to herself. She had named Ron's tiny owl Pigwigdeon, much to Ron's disgust. "Well, since owls are always out at night, and seen on occasion during the day, Phantom? After the title of the show?" She suggested with a shrug.

"Phantom"..Hermione giggled. " and Hedwig. Different, but I like it. Phantom it is then. What do you think?" She asked the owl, who hooted and ruffled its feathers. "I'll take that as a yes, then." She stroked it. Crookshanks let out a few mews, and pawed at Harry's cloak.

Harry chuckled. "Better not tell Malfoy that you named my girlfriend's owl after his character. Feeling left out, are you?" he asked, sitting down on Hermione's bed to scratch the cat behind its ears. Crookshanks closed his eyes and began purring immediately. "It's nice to be able to pet you again," Harry told the animal, turning to Hermione who was cooeing over her owl.

"Harry...thank you so so much. This is one of the best Christmas presents I've ever gotten." Hermione spoke again, and planted a kiss on Harry's lips. "You are so wonderful, do you know that?"

Harry blushed. "Well, I..."

"Of course he does," giggled Ginny. "He's just being modest."

"Wait, Harry. How did you manage to hide Phantom?" Hermione asked, sitting down beside her boyfriend, who was still stroking Crookshanks. "Where was he the whole time? And when did you get him anyway?"

Harry grinned. "Well, I gave money to Sirius about two months ago and had him get the owl for me. Then he brought it here, and I went to Professor Dumbledore to ask if he couldn't keep the owl there until Christmas, since I knew he was good with birds."

"Fawks." Hermione said with a smile. "Wow."

"Yep. I'm really glad you like him. He'll deliver your mail and everything...really useful."

REOW! Crookshanks let out a loud hiss and snapped at Harry's hand as though he had been severly insulted.

"He didn't mean it that way, Crooky." Hermione giggled, going over to stroke her cat. "You're very helpful but in other ways of course."

Crookshanks gave her a suspicious look and turned his tail towards Harry.

"I didn't mean to insult you," Harry laughed. The cat then turned to him and let out a low growl before settling back down on the bed again.

Hermione started laughing. "Sorry, Harry. He's pretty tempormental. Hey...I'm bringing Phantom downstairs to show everyone. Come on." She grabbed Harry's hand and brought the owl back to the common room, where the three of them were immediately surrounded by the other Gryffindors. Erin and Jess, who had finally returned rather wealthy from their little business, were so excited that Hermione now had an owl.

"What's his name?" Jess asked.

"Phantom," Hermione replied.

"I named him after the title of the musical," Ginny explained.

"How sweet!" cried Erin. "Harry, that was really wicked."

"Thanks." Harry laughed. "You're enjoying every minute of this, aren't you?" He asked the owl, who held its head very high and he could almost detect a slight smile on the creature's beak, if that was possible. "Don't forget that Hermione has another pet that also needs attention."

Phantom cocked his head and blinked his big yellow eyes at Harry.

"Come on...I'm starving," said Ron. "Let's go down and get some dinner."

"I have to bring him up to the owlery," said Hermione with a grin. "I'm afraid Crookshanks might eat him...what with all of this attention he's getting."

Harry nodded. "I'll come with you. We'll meet you guys later," he told Lavender and Ron.

"See you!" they cried, before dashing out through the portrait hole.


	36. Chapter 36 Departure for the Holidays

Chapter 38 Departure for the Holidays  
  
On the morning of the day they had to leave, Harry, Hermione, Ron and Lavender sat together in the common room eating breakfast there rather than in the Great Hall. Their things were packed and sitting by the portrait hole, and it was nice just to sit alone together rather than just in a big group.  
  
"So what is everyone's plans for the holidays?" asked Lavender, taking a bite of some gingerbread.  
  
"Not sure," replied Ron. "What about you?"  
  
"I'll be visiting family as usual. And as usual, my Aunt will show Jessica off for having been accepted to Hogwarts."  
  
Hermione giggled before turning to Harry. "Are you nervous about going to live with Sirius this Christmas?" she asked, noticng how quiet he seemed.  
  
Harry shrugged. "I wouldn't exactly say I was nervous since I've lived with him before and am familiar with the apartment and all. It will just be strange to be home again."  
  
Hermione nodded. "Home and healthy," she added softly.  
  
"Knock on wood," Ron sniggered, knocking on the top of Lavender's head. She squealed and smacked him on the arm.  
  
"Shut UP, Ron!" she cried, before letting him embrace her.  
  
Hermione glanced at her watch, frowning. "It's 9:30, you guys. We ought to bring our things to the Great Hall like Professor McGonagall told us."  
  
"Yeah," sighed Ron, before standing and helping Lavender to her feet.  
  
"You're not taking Crookshanks home with you this time?" Harry asked, noticing that the cat's cage was missing from Hermione's things. She shook her head.  
  
"He'll be all right here." She replied, smiling at Harry.  
  
"You didn't want to bother me with him, is that it?" Harry asked. He had really enjoyed the results of Madame Pomfrey's twenty-four-hour allergy antedote, because Hermione could let her cat into the common room and he wouldn't start sneezing. Hermione did not reply verbally, but she laced her fingers through his and shrugged. He kissed her before grabbing hold of his trunk and Hedwig's cage.  
  
The group made their way to the Great Hall, which was crowded with students again. Jessica and Erin caught sight of them and hurried over, looking very cheerful.  
  
"I am SO glad I get to go home for a bit!" Erin cried. "It will be nice to sleep in my own bed for a couple of weeks."  
  
"Yes," Jess sighed dreamily. "And we're having a family get-together this year again, right Lavender?"  
  
"I would assume so," Lavender replied with a smile.  
  
"What time are we leaving again?" asked Erin, checking her watch.  
  
"Ten o'clock," Hermione answered. "The train leaves from Kings Cross at eleven o'clock."  
  
"That's in fifteen minutes," said Lavender. "Come on, let's put our stuff over there." She pointed to the enormous group of luggage by the door of the Great Hall.  
  
At ten o'clock, Professor McGonagall announced that the carriages were ready and that everyone should hurry outside. Harry felt his heart pounding as he followed his friends into the snow. He had never gone away from Hogwarts during the holidays, and it felt very strange to be doing so.  
  
"See you!" Jessica and Erin called, going into one carriage while Hermione, Ron, Harry and Lavender piled into another. They reached the Hogwarts Express by ten-thirty, and sure enough boarded the train exactly at eleven.  
  
The ride from Hogsmeade to King's Cross was not a very lively one. No one really spoke at all, and the only sound that could be heard was the train's whistle every now and again.  
  
"It came upon a midnight clear, that glorious song of old," Ron started singing quietly as he watched the scenery fly past out the window. "From angels bending near the Earth to touch their harps of gold.."  
  
Hermione, who had been leaning against Harry's shoulder, lifted her head and smiled at him. "Peace on Earth and good will to men, from heaven's all gracious King.."  
  
"The world in solemn stillness lay to hear the angels sing," Ron finished the verse. "I was getting a LITTLE tired of the silence in here. I mean, it is nearly Christmas and look at how depressed we all are! It's as though we're leaving for the summer holidays!"  
  
Lavender laughed. "So you just HAD to impress us with your singing then?" she teased. He scowled.  
  
"Look!" Hermione cried, leaning over Harry to point out the window. Harry turned and sure enough, King's Cross Station was slowly coming into view. "Harry-you DID remember to wrap Sirius's present, didn't you?" she asked hopefully.  
  
"Of course," Harry replied. "Erin wrapped it for me."  
  
Lavender snorted. "For once their mischief turns out to be useful."  
  
Hermione shrugged.  
  
Finally the train pulled into the station, and Harry turned away from the window, his eyes wide. "Is Sirius meeting you in the Muggle section? Do you have to walk through the barrier to get to him?" Hermione asked. "I wasn't sure."  
  
Harry shrugged. "If he's not right outside the doors then he's probably waiting on the other side since his apartment is in Muggle London."  
  
"It's stopping!" cried Lavender, and she could hear the conductor shouting "King's Cross!"  
  
It was a scramble to get out of the car, and Harry nearly tripped over Ron on the way out. They stepped onto the platform, and Harry frantically looked from one side of the platform to the other. No sign of Sirius yet. "There's a dog!" Hermione told Harry, pointing towards the barrier. Sure enough, a large black dog sat waiting patiently, it's large pink tongue hanging out.  
  
"Why doesn't he just wait in his human form?" Harry sniggered, grabbing his things and hurrying over to the animal. He knelt down in front of the dog and started petting it. "Hullo, Sirius." He laughed.  
  
"Hullo, Hary."  
  
"AGH!" Ron whirled around to see Sirius standing behind him. Harry blinked once and then turned to the dog, who was sniffing his hand.  
  
"I thought he was you!" Harry cried, pointing at the dog.  
  
Sirius sniggered. "I could see the resemblance, but no." he bent down beside Harry and scratched the black dog behind the ears. "Handsome fellow, though." Then the two of them stood and Sirius gave Harry a proper hug, and also gave one to Hermione, Ron and Lavender.  
  
"Do you have everything, Harry?" he asked.  
  
"Uh huh. Could you take Hedwig's cage? It's a lot to carry," Harry told Sirius with a smile.  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Well....have a good Christmas, you two," said Hermione. "I have to go and meet my parents on the other side." She gave Harry a big hug and a kiss before turning to disappear through the barrier. When Ron and Lavender were gone, Sirius led Harry through the barrier into Muggle London.  
  
It felt so strange to be away from Hogwarts, that Harry had a bit of trouble taking everything in at once. He and Sirius boarded a trolly and took that to the apartment building, which was how Harry remembered it: made of stone and covered in parts with ivy.  
  
"Do you have everything, Harry?" Sirius asked as he helped his godson drag the large trunk onto the sidewalk. The driver of the trolly was giving them strange looks when Hedwig hooted softly and ruffled her feathers a bit after Harry passed her to Sirius before getting out.  
  
"Yeah." Harry promised, and then they climbed up the stone steps and through the front door of the apartment building. Sirius had an apartment on the top floor, and when they entered it, Harry smiled: he was home.  
  
"Look familiar?" Sirius asked hopefully, noticing the excited expression on Harry's face. The apartment had been set up for the Christmas holiday: a medium-sized tree sat by the fireplace, and beneath the tree were quite a few decently-wrapped gifts. Sirius also had tinsel surrounding the trim of the apartment and multi-colored lights.  
  
"Yes. And it looks great! I really like what you did with the decorations. Can I let Hedwig out?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
Harry unlocked Hedwig's cage and watched as she flew into the air, perching on top of the Christmas tree, blinking her great yellow eyes down at him. "Make yourself righ at home, why don't you?" Harry teased as she nestled her head underneath her wing. She did not budge, and Harry decided it was no use trying to get her down from the tree by force.  
  
"She's all right up there," Sirius promised, ruffling Harry's hair.  
  
"I hate it when people do that," Harry snarled, trying to fix it. "Lavender nearly bit Ron's hand when he did that to her. Not a bad idea to think about." Harry sniggered.  
  
Sirius shrugged. "So....do you want to sit back and relax for now or would you like to put your things away? You'll be able to refresh your trunk supplies before you go back to Hogwarts."  
  
Harry glanced down the hallway that lead to his bedroom. He'd spent quite a bit of time in there over the summer, and not always just because he wanted to. For some reason it did not look all that appealing at the moment-very dimly lit.  
  
"I think I'll relax for a bit now and I'll unpack later." Harry replied, falling back on the living room couch. Sirius soon joined him and the two of them just sat gazing ahead at the fire cackling in the fireplace.  
  
"So I completely dusted the apartment for you," Sirius added. "hopefully that'll help."  
  
Harry grinned. "You didn't take my suggestion and put steal windows in my bedroom, did you?" he teased. "To keep the smog out?"  
  
Sirius rolled his eyes. "No, I didn't."  
  
"I'm only joking, Sirius. You don't have to go to that extreme." He smiled.  
  
"Well..." Sirius sighed. "I never know what I should have done differently. After you were sick this summer, I technically thought about doing that, trying to keep out anything that could be a problem."  
  
"You could do it magically," Harry suggested, "if you were thinking about it. I'm sure Professor Dumbledore could have helped you come up with something."  
  
Sirius shrugged. "Maybe."  
  
"But you really don't have to worry, because I'm fine now, and I have a way to control the symptoms if they get out of control." Harry promised.  
  
Sirius nodded. "You're right, Harry. I don't know why I still worry."  
  
"It comes along with your job description as godfather," Harry chuckled. "You're technically a substitute parent for me at this point."  
  
Sirius smiled. "Yeah, that is probably why I panic over the tiniest things."  
  
Harry turned to look at Hedwig, who still had her beak nestled in her wing. He was so happy to feel as though he belonged somewhere at last. 


	37. Chapter 37 Wonder as I Wander

Chapter 37  
Wonder as I Wander

Sirius and Harry spent most of the night catching up on what had been going on lately, before retiring to bed around midnight. Just as Harry was putting on his pajamas, he glanced outside and gasped. Thousands upon thousands of tiny white flakes were falling from the sky over London. Grinning, Harry hurried over and leapt into bed, snuggling beneath the covers and resting his head on the pillow. Within minutes he fell sound asleep.

"Dashing through the snow..in a one horse open sleigh..."

The next morning Harry awoke to the sound of voices singing on the street. He had slept wonderfully, and was rather annoyed because he had been in the middle of a pleasant dream. Yawning, Harry stretched his arms over his head and reached for his glasses on the nightstand. His mouth fell open when he realized it was nearly 10:30 in the morning, and he quickly hopped out of bed, going to the window. The entire city was covered in thick white fluff, and when he got a better look, he realized where the singing was coming from.

Ron, Hermione and Lavender were standing on the sidewalk in front of the apartment building dressed in thick coats, scarves, hats and mittens and were caroling. "SIRIUS!" Harry yelled, laughing as he stumbled out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, where his godfather sat reading the paper as he usually did.

"Harry! What's the matter?" Sirius cried, nearly leaping three feet.

"You have to see this," Harry begged, grabbing his arm. "Come on!"

"All right, I'm coming, I'm coming." Sirius nearly tripped over his chair as he stood, and followed the teenager through the living room and back into his bedroom. Harry led Sirius to the window and pointed down.

"Well I'll be." Sirius chuckled. He pulled the window open and leaned on the sill. "Hullo everyone, what brings you here so early?"

"Good morning!" Hermione cried. "Hi, Harry!"

"Hey!" Harry waved. "Come on up!"

"Let's go, Ron, I'm freezing out here!" Lavender called and nodded up to Harry. "We'll be up in five minutes! There's a man selling hot chocolate a few blocks away and I want to get some!"

Harry sniggered. "We have that stuff here," He replied. "Come on!" He watched as Hermione led the way into the building, and Harry rushed for the living room again.

"Well wasn't that a surprise, eh?" Sirius chuckled. "They must be your friends if they're here to see you this early in the morning and in the snow no less! Do you want me to make some hot chocolate?"

"That'd be great, Sirius.Thanks. I'll wait for them on the couch." He flopped down and covered himself with the old blanket while Sirius went back into the kitchen. About two minutes later Harry heard knocking, and he hopped off of the couch again, nearly running into Sirius who was preparing to answer the door himself.

"After you," Sirius laughed, and Harry pulled the door open, throwing his arms around Hermione, whom he saw first.

"Hullo, Hermione! You guys, what are you doing here? I thought you were with your families! It's Christmas Eve day!"

Hermione nodded. "We are," she added, "but we're all leaving later on this afternoon, so we decided to surprise you and come for a visit. It was Ron's idea to sing, since he never got a chance to put that choir together at Hogwarts. Mmmmm, what's cooking?" She asked as the three entered.

"Hot cocoa," Sirius replied.

"Yum." Ron licked his lips. "So how're you feelin', mate?"

"The same as I did last time I saw you." Harry laughed. "Come on in and have a seat! Let me take your coats first, though."

"Ah, thanks, Harry." Said Lavender, allowing him to help her slide her arms out. Once their coats were hanging up, Harry led his friends into the living room and ordered them to sit down on the couch and relax for a bit. Well, actually, Hermione sat on Harry's lap since the couch was not that big.

"Couldn't bare to be without me, eh?" Harry sniggered, wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on her shoulder. She giggled and kissed him.

"No I can't," she told him. "I tried, really I did, but I kept seeing your face wherever I went and I had to come and visit you at least once."

"So it really wasn't Ron's idea to come here then, was it?" Harry teased her.

She rolled her eyes. "Well, it was sort of his idea but mostly mine."

Sirius eventually came into the living room carrying a tray that contained mugs of hot cocoa for all of them, and passed them out. He then sat down in one of the other chairs in the room and grinned as they sat sipping from their cups, not really speaking.

"So what are all of your plans for the holidays?" Sirius asked.

"Visiting family," Lavender replied.

"Same," Ron and Hermione replied.

"Are you going to visit Bill in Egypt this Christmas?" asked Harry.

"He's home this time," Ron told him, though there was a hint of sadness in his voice, and Harry knew why. During their fifth year at Hogwarts, Ron's other older brother Charlie had died when they had gone to Romania to try and hide Harry from Voldemort, while he had been sick.

"Well that's good," Sirius broke the tense silence that had filled the room.

Hermione was snuggling against Harry, her head leaning against his chest. "So what did your Mum and Dad think of Julian, Hermione?" Harry asked after a few moments of silence passed while they were concentrating on their cocoa. Hermione reached up and planted a tener kiss on his cheek.

"They loved him," she replied, her voice filled with delight. "They think you're wonderful, Harry." Ron pretended to gag and Lavender smacked him on the shoulder.

"Hey!" Ron sniggered. "What was that for?" He planted a kiss on her lips, which she accepted. Sirius smirked from his sweat, his dark eyes twinkling. It was amazing how fast Harry, Ron and Hermione had grown, and Harry especially, since his battle with the illness the previous term, had grown to take even the smallest things in life more seriously.

"How long are you three staying?" Sirius asked curiously.

"Not long," Ron replied. "Why.are you trying to get rid of us?" he winked playfully and the others laughed.

"Not at all," Sirius insisted. "I was only wondering if you planned to take Harry into town or not."

Hermione and Lavender glanced at each other, fighting back giggles.

Harry smiled. "I wouldn't mind. I'd just need to get a shower and dress."

Ron nodded. "We'll do it, then. Siriius, can I use your fireplace to get a hold of my Mum? I don't have a felly tone thing."

"TELEPHONE, Ron," Hermione snipped. "Haven't you been paying attention at all during Muggle studies?" She stood up and helped Harry to his feet. "Can I use your phone, love? I have to call my Mum as well."

"Sure. It's in the kitchen." Harry pointed in the general direction, and Hermione went in, followed by Lavender. Sirius, meanwhile, was conjuring up a fire for Ron so he could get in contact with Mrs. Weasley. Harry watched with amazement as her face appeared in the bright orange flames.

"Hullo, Ron, what is it?" She asked, her voice sounding as though it were an echo. Then she turned in Harry's direction, and smiled sweetly. "Hullo, Harry dear."

Harry waved nervously as Ron asked about going to Diagon Alley.

"As long as you are back by seven," Mrs. Weasley told him. "We have a family dinner planned."

"Yes Mum, I know." Ron told her. "I'll see you at seven, then."

"Merry Christmas, everyone!" Mrs. Weasley called, and with a small POP, she was gone. Harry stood gaping.this was the most interesting thing he'd seen the wizard's use with fire since floo powder! Hermione and Lavender eventually came back out into the living room, both smiling.

"We can go too, Harry," Lavender announced, "Though I have to be back by five.we're going to my Aunt Eva's tonight."

"My parents expect me home by then as well," Hermione added.

"Great!" said Harry. "Well, let me get ready and we'll go." He headed for the bathroom, and the others sat down again, waiting patiently for him.

"He looks so much better, Sirius," Lavender whispered. "He's not nearly as pale anymore."

"He even sounds better too," Hermione added.

Sirius nodded. "Well, let's hope that this lasts.I don't want to spend another moment in the hospital, though if something else happens I'll have the sense to take him to St. Mungo's this time."

Hermione frowned.

Harry stood in the shower, meanwhile, allowing the warm water to fall over his body. He hadn't felt so wonderful in his life.his best friends had come to see him without warning, he felt well.Harry washed his hair and nearly got a mouthful of shampoo bubbles in the process. At last he managed to get dressed and joined his friends again, who were whispering amongst themselves. Harry could hear clanging noises from the kitchen, which meant that Sirius was cleaning again. "I'm ready," Harry told them, and they looked up, blinking.

"Your hair is still damp," Hermione pointed out.

"And?"

"And in case you don't know, you could honestly get sick if you're out in the cold with wet hair!" She put her hands on her hips and glared at him.

Harry raised his eyes. "That's what hats are for, Hermione."

"Or wands."

"Hermione, you can't practice magic outside of school, you know that!" Lavender gasped, sounding just like Hermione for a moment.

"Sirius?"

"Yes Hermione?" Sirius's gruff voice came from the kitchen, and he peered out from around the corner.

"Could you put a drying spell on Harry's head? His hair is still damp." Her voice was trembling a little.

Sirius smirked. "All right, Hermione. Come here, Harry."

Harry shot Hermione a look as he went over to his gadfather, who took his wand from the countertop, and aimed it at Harry's head, and murmered a few words. Harry suddenly gasped.a very warm feeling came over him as he felt the spell taking effect. Within minutes, Sirius was finished, and Harry found that his hair was now completely dry.

"Thanks."

"Hermione's worried, Harry, and we really can't risk."

"I know, I know," Harry grumbled.

Sirius gave him a worried frown as Harry went back over to Hermione, folding his arms. "Better?"

"Much." Hermione grinned, ruffling his hair. "Now let's go."

Everyone put their winter things back hats, gloves, scarves and boots, and Sirius brought them out onto the snow-covered street. Harry nearly slid and fell on his rump when he came in contact with a patch of black ice when they crossed the street. Instead he managed to stumble right into Lavender for support, who fell into Ron, who knocked into Sirius.

"Careful!" Sirius called. "I'll tell you what.it's a few blocks down to the Leaky Cauldron.I'll call for the Knight bus." He stuck out his arm. BANG. Everyone shrieked and leapt backwards, covering their hearts with their hands. Harry recognized the triple decker bus that stood rumbling in the street. The driver recognized him immediately as well, and he beamed.

" 'Ello, 'Arry!" Stan greeted, coming down the stairs. He was the conductor, and the driver's name, if Harry remembered correctly, was "Ern."

"Hullo," Harry greeted.

"Where are you of to t'day?" He tipped his hat at Sirius and the others.

"Diagon Alley if you please," Sirius told him politely with a nod, and Stan stepped aside to allow all of them on.

"All righ'.Diagon Alley it is then." The doors shut and BANG! Everyone jolted in their seats as the bus began moving again.

"So what are you all up to for the o'liday?" Stan asked as he watched Harry squeeze Hermione's hand tightly.

"Not much," Ron replied. "Family and everything."

"'Ow nice."

"Are you getting a break for the holidays?" Hermione asked curiously, looking Stan up and down with interest.

"Oh no, we work all th' time," Stan told her. " 'ow else are us folk s'pposed to get around?"

Hermione looked rather sad that Stan had no where to go on Christmas.

BANG! The bus stopped again and the doors opened. Everyone leaned forward to watch who was coming on.a tiny, plump witch stumbled on, hiccupping as she carried an empty, chipped bottle in her hands. She gave a goofy wave to them and nearly fell flat on her face as she made her way towards the back of the bus. Ron blinked as he watched her fall onto one of the beds, and he smirked.

"Ought to watch 'ow many drinks you down next time, Madame Plankin," Stan scolded as the witch broke into another fit of hiccups.

"Oh I hic will hic!" She completely ignored the stares from the other passengers on the bus. Hermione held back giggles as she turned away to glance at the scenery outside of the window.

BANG!

"Oh!" Lavender cried as the bus started up again, and she grabbed onto Ron's arm. At last, their stop came, and everyone nearly tumbled out, dizzy from all of the sudden stops and starts.

"I'll be seein' 'oo all later then?" Stan asked, tipping his hat.

"Er." Sirius blinked. "Yes."

BANG! The bus disappeared, and Harry saw that they were standing right in front of the Leaky Cauldron. Lavender pulled her jacket tighter around her as she looked up at the sign, her breath coming in faint white puffs.

"Come along now," Sirius called, and everyone scrambled after him, being careful not to slip as they did so. They went around to the back of the pub, and Sirius, who was the only one allowed to use magic outside of Hogwarts, took out his wand and raised it. Harry's fingers were once again laced through Hermione's, but he did not mind at all. He smiled at her as she watche Sirius tap the particular bricks needed to open the archway, and then the wall began to part. Harry could hear witches and wizards caroling and enchanted pianos playing as they entered the alley. The girls gasped.everything was decorated for the Christmas holiday. All of the shops were strung with beautiful multi colored or white lights, and Christmas trees stood in each of the windows, covered in decorations.

"Merry Christmas!" A disgruntled looking wizard dressed in bright green and red robes greeted, pulling strands of tinsel over their heads and showering them with red and green star and tree confetti. Hermione fingered the tinsel around her neck and raised her eyes at Harry, who was just as startled.

"Erm.thanks." Ron called after him.

"Come on!" Lavender told everyone.

"Hold on, I'm not going with you!" Sirius laughed.

"What?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"This is your day, I'm not going to infringe on it of course. I'll give you all a few good hours to walk around and enjoy yourselves and I'll meet you at the Leaky Cauldron around 3."

"But."

"You'll be fine," Sirius promised, grinning at them. "Plus I have a surprise to set up for tonight, Harry." he gave his godson a wink.

Harry stared. "All right.we'll see you later then?"

Sirius nudged them all forward and gave them a wave, before apparating back to the apartment, leaving them alone for the moment. Lavender looked at Ron. "Isn't Diagon Alley beautiful on Christmas Eve?" She gasped. "Ooooh.I just love hearing the music." They began walking down the street, making footprints in the snow where their boots touched it, and did a bit of window shopping at first.

"I could go for a cup of tea at Loreala's bakery, couldn't you?" Hermione asked, rubbing her glove-covered hands together and blowing into them. It was so cold outside that it was almost numbing.

"Sure," said Ron, who began singing in a very high, ridiculously sounding soprano voice: "I wonder as I wander, out under the sky.how Jesus the Savior, did come for to die.for poor orney people like you and like I.I wonder as I wander out under the sky."

"How appropriate," Lavender giggled, grasping his arm once again and leaning her head against his shoulder as they made their way towards the bakery. The smells were fantastic as they stepped inside, listening as the little bell hanging on the door jingled, and the baker, a fat, balding man with a kind manner looked up from where he was rolling out dough.

"Ah! Good afternoon to you." He greeted, wiping flour on his apron. "What can I get for you lot?"

Hermione glanced at Ron who was looking at the different pies and cakes on display. "We'll all have some tea, thank you," Lavender told him, smiling.

"Well, we have quite a few different flavors of tea.which would you prefer?"

When they all gave him their orders, they took their seats at a table for four by the window. Harry sat across from Hermione so they could listen to each other a bit better, and Ron sat across from Lavender. There weren't many customers inside this place, only an old wizard dressed in bright blue and orange robes, his pointed hat sitting on the table so that he revealed his completely bald head. Harry took Hermione's hands in his and touched them to his lips, closing his eyes.

"Ooh, magazines!" Lavender squealed, pointing to one of the stands in the corner, interrupting Harry and Hermione's tender moment. She stood up and went to pick up The Quibbler, which was a rather unusual wizard magazine, and opened it on the table. "They always have a good quiz in here for you to take.oooh, here we are.page fifty three, how romantic are you."

Just at that moment, the baker came out with their cups of tea, and told them they could pay him when they were ready to leave. Harry took a small sip and glanced at Lavender, who was reading over the questions with a smile on her face. "All right, I'll ask each of you a question and answer truthfully now." She cleared her throat and held the magazine in front of her. "Hermione, do you have a quill on you?"

"Yes," Hermione replied, pulling one out of her robe pocket and handing it over.

"Thanks. All right, first one. Your perfect idea of a date would be: A: a candlelight dinner and a stroll through the park. B: Getting it on in your quarters (Ron nearly choked on a mouthful of tea after Lavender read this question), C: Watching a sexy movie or D: Playing video games." She looked up at Hermione. "What's your answer, Hermione?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh please, Lavender.do you really think you can judge a person based off of a ridiculous quiz like this?"

Lavender rolled her eyes. "No, but aren't you the least bit curious?"

"I'd take A and B," Ron sniggered into his cup.

"I'd take." Harry thought for a moment. Both A and B sounded intruiging. He studied Hermione's face as she was still arguing with Lavender about how stupid these magazine quizzes really were, before he finally replied, "Lavender, I'll choose B."

Hermione's head snapped towards him. "You.B?!" She blinked.

This did it for Ron, who burst into laughter and nearly fell right off of his chair. "B?!" Lavender cried. "Harry, that's.are you sure? You're answering honestly now, right?" Lavender asked, mystified. Harry didn't honesty seem the type.

"Of course!" He told her. "Why are you all looking at me like that? I'm sixteen years old, for crying out loud.of course I'd."

"Ahem." Lavender looked down at the magazine and scribbled "B" for Harry's answer. "Moving on."

Ron was grinning at Harry who had an eyebrow raised. Hermione was still gaping, open-mouthed. Ten questions later, Harry had everyone rolling on the ground. "Harry, you are NOT." Ron gasped, "A.sexual m-magnet.no." He was practically crying he was laughing so hard.

Lavender giggled. "Oh come on, let us stop jesting at him."

Harry nodded to her in approval. "Yes, if you don't mind.shouldn't we be walking around a bit more?"

"Okay." The four of them stood up and paid the baker for the tea, and he wished them a Merry Christmas before they left. Harry and Ron decided to go and look at Quality Quidditch Supplies, despite the girl's protests, as they wanted to visit the pet shop.

"How about this," Harry began, "You two can go to the pet shop and Ron and I can go to the Quidditch shop.is that fair?"

Hermione and Lavender agreed, though quite reluctantly, and Hermione gave Harry a tight hug.

He kissed her. "Meet us by that lamp post in about twenty minutes, okay?" He looked at Ron who nodded at Lavender.

"All right. See you." Hermione waved as Harry and Ron took off, and then she turned to Lavender with a raised eyebrow. "Typical."

"I'm still gaping over Harry's final score in that quiz, Hermione!" Lavender gasped as they made their way to the Magical Menagerie.

"Oh please," Hermione snorted. "I know he was joking."

"Are you sure he was?" Lavender whispered as they opened the door, and were immediately nearly defeaned by squawks, mews and squeaks. A turtle sat unmoving in an aquarium by the window and every so often, Hermione could see it's shell shoot off a few random sparks.

"Ah, hullo there!" The owner of the shop greeted them, smiling cheerfully. "Last minute shoppers, eh? Plenty to choose from, you know, and I am having a sale tonight."

"No thank you, we're just looking," Hermione insisted. "Have you gotten any new cats in?"

The owner nodded. "Aye miss, we just did.we got some precious new kittens that are over here." He led the girls over to a few cages he had stacked up one on top of the other. There were two kittens in each cage.yellow and white striped ones, pure black, grey and black.

"They are adorable!" Lavender squealed.

"You're the young lady who bought Crookshanks from me not too long ago, didn't ye?" He raised his eyes, and Hermione nodded.

"I did, yes."

"How is the lad getting' along?"

"Very well," Hermione replied, beaming. "I think my boyfriend also purchased an owl for me here a few weeks ago."

The owner nodded. "Excellent," she replied.

Hermione and Lavender spent a bit of time in the pet store, looking around and cooeing over the cuter and cuddlier animals. When it was time to meet up with Harry and Ron again, the girls thanked the owner for allowing them to look around and then left. They saw the boys just approaching the lamp post, and they rushed across the street to meet them. Harry was about to say hello when he sneezed harshly, causing everyone to jump. "Bless you." Hermione told him.

"Thank you."

"It must be the smell of the place getting to you," Lavender suggested with a giggle.

Harry smiled.

The four of them spent the rest of the time just walking into each of the shops, and were quite surprised when it was time to meet Sirius. "That was a lot of fun," Harry told his friends as they made their way to the meeting spot.

"Yes. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas, Harry," Lavender told him, giving him a hug. They met Sirius, and headed back onto the Knight bus after a while. Stan gave each of them red and green lollipops as they got off at the apartment.

"We'd best get back," Ron told Harry.

"Yeah." Harry gave Hermione a great hug and kissed her on the lips. "Don't worry, love. The vacation will go faster than you think." He smiled as he watched her turn away with a final wave, and then looked up at Sirius, who was grinning.

"What are you smiling about?" Harry asked as they turned to head back inside.

"You'll see." Sirius replied, and led his godson upstairs.


	38. Chapter 38: A Merry Christmas

Chapter 38

A Merry Christmas

Sirius opened the door to the apartment, leading Harry by the hand so he wouldn't trip over anything. Harry kept his eyes closed, grinning with excitement. "Sirius," he said breathlessly, once they were inside. "What is this all about?"

"Almost, Harry," Sirius encouraged, bringing his godson into the living room. "Sit down on the couch here."

When Harry sat, Sirius cleared his throat, and stepped back a few paces. "All right," he added, "open your eyes!"

When Harry did as he was told, he gasped. Sirius had completely re-decorated the apartment, using some type of bewitchment to make fake snow come from the ceiling. A Christmas tree sat in the corner, decorated with bright, multi-colored lights and tinsel, and Hedwig herself perched contentedly at the top in place of a star. A large quantity of neatly wrapped gifts lay under the tree, and the ceiling, as at Hogwarts, looked like the night sky, shining with thousands of gold stars.

"Wow!" Harry cried, shocked. "How did you do this, Sirius? This is incredible!"

"And that's not the last," Sirius added with a wink. Confused, Harry sat back as the older man whistled, and then he heard the tinkle of bells. Two, full-sized reindeer came trotting out from his bedroom, bobbing their heads and making small, grunting noises.

"This is brilliant!" Harry gasped, as they stood by the tree. He stood up, and went over to the one reindeer, petting its soft nose gently.

"And you asked how I did this, Harry?" Sirius smiled, and Harry looked at him. "Well, it's actually a rather funny story, and I have to admit, your father was of some encouragement."

Harry sat back down on the couch, waiting patiently to listen to what Sirius had to say. "We were in our seventh year at Hogwarts," Sirius began, "and as you can probably guess, we were pretty good wizards by that point. It was around Christmas, and I happened to be talking to James and Remus with my wand in my hand, and I accidentally shot a bolt of light out of it at your Dad."

Harry gasped. "You didn't hurt him, did you?" he sounded anxious, and Sirius sat down next to him, chuckling.

"No, not at all. Well, not exactly. When I turned to look at what I'd done, where your father sat was a brightly wrapped gift box."

Harry blinked. "A…what?" he coughed a little, and Sirius allowed him to lay down, so his legs were using his thighs as pillows.

"Yeah." Sirius grinned. "Apparently, when it came to the holidays, I had a real flare for transfiguring people and things into Christmas decorations."

"It took you seven years to figure it out, though?" Harry asked, smiling softly when Hedwig flew down from the tree, and perched on his stomach. He stroked her white breast, allowing her to nip his finger affectionately.

"Well, Im not sure," Sirius admitted. "It hadn't happened before that. Then again, I rarely talked while waving my wand around, either, but we were having a particularly good time at the Christmas eve feast in the Great Hall, and I got over-excited. Dumbledore was impressed, of course, and as you can probably imagine, deeply amused."

Harry was laughing now, and jumped when one of the reindeer nuzzled his neck with its nose. "But anyway," Sirius continued, "after transfiguring your Dad back to his usual self, I decided to see what else I could do. So I completely transformed the entire Gryffindor Common room into a theme similar to this. Professor McGonagall was rather impressed as well, I must say."

Harry laughed again, and yawned. "Sorry," he apologized, and Sirius smiled.

"You're probably exhausted," he said, and checked his watch. "It's only five thirty, but if you want to rest and take an early night, that's fine."

Harry yawned again. "It's Christmas eve, though," he whispered, and Sirius felt his forehead, just to be on the safe side.

"No fever. Well, how about I make us some tea, and then we'll see how you feel? Are you in the mood for some soup for dinner?"

Harry nodded. "I can just doze here on the couch, Sirius."

Sirius frowned, and then nodded. "Okay. Well, I'll still make some dinner for us, then. Any preference?"

Harry shook his head. "No," he replied softly, and turned over so he was facing the back of the couch.

Sirius stood in the kitchen, peering through the doorway at his godson. Harry had certainly changed in physique since his illness over the summer, and it was no delusion to tell that he was easily exhausted. "But he's going to be fine," Sirius told himself, filling a pot with water and sitting it on the stove. "He's going to be just fine"

After dinner was ready, Sirius filled two bowls and two mugs, and carried them into the living room. Harry was sound asleep by this point on the couch, his chest moving up and down gently with his calm breathing. Sirius set everything on the table, and gave the boy a gentle shake.

"Mmmmrph," Harry muttered, shifting slightly.

"Harry, maybe we should put you to bed," Sirius suggested, trying to ignore the nagging worry inside of him.

"Huh?" Harry's eyes opened again, and he blinked. "Oh…sorry…fell asleep."

Sirius chuckled. "Yeah, I can tell. Well, try to take down some of your dinner down, and then you can go to bed."

Harry yawned, stretching his arms over his head. "Yeah," he whispered, "I'll try. I'm sorry, Sirius."

"Hey," Sirius replied, returning the hug. "I just want you to feel better, okay?"

Harry nodded, slowly drinking his broth. He was feeling incredibly drained, hating how even exerting himself ever so slightly was ridiculously exhausting. When he finished his dinner, he gave Sirius a quick kiss on the cheek, and told him he was going to lay down for the rest of the night. Sirius insisted he take his tea with him, and, after Harry disappeared into his bedroom, Sirius buried his face in his hands.

"Oh Harry," he breathed. "Isn't this ever going to end?"

When Christmas morning arrived, Harry awoke to the sound of more than just Sirius' voice. He sat up, feeling considerably better than the night before, though still fairly drained. It was snowing hard outside, and the thought of how cold it must be made him shiver.

Clearing his throat, Harry slid out of bed, and fumbled around on the nightstand for his glasses. Once he put them on, he wrapped his robe around himself, and put on his slippers. Yawning and hoping he didn't look too ridiculous, he peered out into the living room.

"Harry!" Sirius called, grinning, and nodded to their guest.

"Professor Lupin?" Harry gasped, hurrying out into the room.

"Hello, Harry," he replied softly. "I hope you don't mind that I've stopped by. I wanted to wish the both of you a Happy Christmas."

"I don't mind at all," Harry replied honestly.

"Are you feeling better, I hope?" Sirius asked, chuckling at his godson's messy hair…well, messier than usual on either accord.

"Yeah." Harry smiled.

"Well, shall we have breakfast and then open gifts?" Sirius suggested. "Remus, you can stay as long as you want, you know that," he promised, and Professor Lupin nodded.

"I just don't want to intrude on your and Harry's first Christmas together."

Harry grinned. "The more the merrier," he laughed, just as the telephone rang.

"I wonder who in Merlin's name that could be," Sirius laughed, as he picked it up. "Hello?" he paused, as Harry went to get some juice from the refridgerator. "Harry? It's for you."

Harry set the orange juice down on the counter, and picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Happy Christmas." His heart leapt at the sound of Hermione's voice on the other end.

"Hermione," he breathed. "Happy Christmas to you, too. How are you?"

Sirius, he could tell, was trying hard not to laugh out loud, though the expression on his face was enough to give the idea away.

"Just fine. And you?"

"All right. I miss you." He lightly stepped on his godfather's toe, and Sirius merely pretended to make kissing impressions.

"I miss you so much, Harry. We just finished opening presents, and wait till you see some of the new clothes Mum and Dad have gotten me!"

"I'll bet you'll look beautiful." He turned his back on Sirius, who was now pretending to gag over the pancake mix. Lupin sat at the table, shaking his head, and sipping slowly from his cup of coffee.

"Harry, are you all right? You sound so tired," Hermione began, and Harry shrugged.

"I'm fine,"he insisted.

"Diagon Alley probably wore you out yesterday." She sighed. "We shouldn't have come over…"

"Hermione, don't say that," Harry begged. "I had a great time yesterday. I was tired last night, but that's normal for me now."

"Well, okay." She smiled to herself. "Listen, Harry…I have to go. Mum and Dad are fixing breakfast. I love you," she added quickly. "And say Happy Christmas to Sirius for me."

"Professor Lupin's here, too," Harry added, and Hermione gasped. "And I love you, too."

"Ooh! Might I say hello real fast?" she asked, and Harry lowered the phone. "Professor Lupin, Hermione wants to say hi," he said, and Lupin smiled.

"Of course." He took the phone from Harry, and, while he talked with Hermione, Harry gave Sirius a playful punch on the shoulder.

"You are annoying," he laughed, and Sirius merely shrugged.

"How is Hermione enjoying her Christmas?" he asked, cracking egss open and pouring the yolk into a bowl.

"She's having a good one so far, it seems." Harry poured himself a glass of orange juice, and, after Professor Lupin hung up the phone, he joined him.

"That was nice to talk to Hermione," Lupin said. "She's a nice girl, Harry. You're very lucky."

Harry blushed. "Definitely am," he replied.

"Are you excited about the production?" Professor Lupin asked, once breakfast was on the table, and the three of them sat eating. It was a relief to see Harry's appetite back to normal; he ate just as fast as any normal fifteen year old boy. Harry nearly choked on his eggs.

"Excited er…isn't exactly the word," he admitted. "Terrified is more like it."

Sirius laughed. "You'll be fine."

"You have extraordinary talent," Lupin added. "Sirius, you should have heard him sing."

"I would have if someone had remembered to tell me," Sirius teased, and Harry stuck out his tongue.

"Ha ha," he laughed. "Professor, are you really…"

"Harry," Lupin laughed, "since we're not in school, you can call me Remus. I don't find it necessary to keep calling me Professor."

Harry grinned. "Oh…yes. Remus, are you still going to be conducting? I was rather surprised that you knew how to play the piano!"

Lupin grinned at Sirius. "Well, that's one of my er…many hidden talents."

"He's very musical," Sirius laughed. "He played for James, Lily and I all the time on the holidays. I remember dancing with your mother, and having James cut in because I was well, hogging her."

It was Harry's turn to laugh. "Too bad we don't have a piano, Sirius," he said softly. "I would like to hear you play."

Lupin smiled. "Well, you'll hear plenty of it, I'm sure." He grinned. "I must admit I'm still in a bit of shock over the very idea of having a production at Hogwarts."

"D'you know how it happened, Remus?" Harry asked. "I really shouldn't tell you…as long as you promise not to tell Dumbledore…"

Lupin cocked his head to one side. "Harry," he said, "you're talking to one of the Marauders. We excel in sneakiness."

Sirius snorted into his coffee. "You?" he laughed, and Lupin raised an eyebrow. "Well, so I was one of the er…more respectable of the four of us, but you have to admit, Sirius, that I had my share of mischief, too." Sirius tapped his mug, a smirk still on his face. "Go on, Harry," Lupin added.

"Well, it was all an accident, actually, that happened in one of our potion's lessons," Harry continued. "Neville made a big mistake with a draught we were making, and his cauldron basically exploded. It fell into the air and all the contents fell on Snape's head. Next thing we knew, he was forcing some of us to sing in turn, and that's when he came up with the idea about the musical. So I don't know how long the spell'll last, but…"

Sirius's face was turning blue with surpressed laughter, and, shockingly, Lupin was the first one to burst out loud. Before Harry knew it, both his godfather and his teacher were rolling on the floor with mirth. When Sirius was finally able to take a breath, he pounded the table with his fist. "Oh, oh…that is priceless," he howled. "Imagine when the spell wears off, and how Snape'll feel then!"

"Well," Lupin sniggered, "let us hope that it doesn't wear off until the play is over. Could you just imagine if he returned to his normal self in the middle of opening night?"

It was Harry's turn to laugh. "That would be terrible," he agreed, coughing a little. "So, when can we open presents?"

Sirius looked at Lupin. "Do you want me to go?" Lupin asked. "I shouldn't stay…"

"Where are you planning on going, Remus?" Sirius asked softly, and Harry wet his lips.

"You don't…have anywhere to go for Christmas, do you?" he asked softly, and Lupin sighed.

"I'm used to it, Harry," he admitted, and Sirius hugged his friend.

"Stay, Remus. You're always welcome here, and you know it."

Lupin nodded. "I just don't want to be intruding…"

"You're not intruding," Harry promised. "I'd hate the idea of you spending a holiday by yourself. Come on, let me help clean up and then you can join us opening presents."

"And I do believe you have a few for yourself under the tree," Sirius told Lupin, who began helping them clear the table.

"Sirius," Lupin sighed, and Sirius gave him a warning look.

"Go and sit down," he insisted, and Lupin retreated into the living room. Once the three of them were sitting together on the floor, Sirius began to deal out the different gifts to their rightful owners. "I hope you like what I've gotten you, Harry," Sirius said softly, and Harry merely smiled.

"I'm sure I'll love everything, Sirius," he replied, and Lupin cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"I well…I got you something as well," he added.

"You didn't have to," Harry started to protest, and Lupin shook his head, handing Harry another package.

"No, I insist."

"Well, who wants to go first?" Sirius asked, pleased by his own, rather generous pile of gifts. Harry coughed into a fist, and pulled his robe more tightly around his body. Lupin gave him a curious expression.

"Are you cold, Harry?" he asked, and Sirius felt his godson's forehead, which seemed to be an automatic gesture whenever Harry was feeling off.

"You're starting to feel a little warm," he sighed, and Harry shook his head.

"I'm fine, Sirius," he insisted. "Hermione just reckons I wore myself out in Diagon Alley yesterday."

Sirius cocked his head to one side. "Are you feeling achy anywhere?" he asked, and Lupin raised an eyebrow.

"Let Harry enjoy his Christmas, Sirius," he spoke up. "If he's not feeling well after we've opened gifts, then we'll just let him lay down a while."

Harry gave his godfather a hug. "Don't worry," he promised, though Sirius still had a bit of worried pang in his gut.

"You can go first," he told Harry, who had no idea where to start. He decided to open Lupin's gift first, which turned out to be a book.

"I thought you'd want to read the story before you participated in the play, Harry," he explained, when Harry read the title: PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. "It's actually quite good. I read it myself."

Harry nodded in understanding. "Thanks," he replied, making a point to start reading it that night. He could just see Hermione's delighted expression when he told her he read the novel first. From Sirius, he received a few new articles of clothing, including a couple of pairs of jeans, sweaters, t-shirts, and…

"Sirius…" Harry sniggered, holding up a glass bottle. "Is this…"

"Cologne, yeah," Sirius laughed. "I thought you might want to give yourself a bit of a spice. It's supposed to turn the girl's on, according to the salesman. And it's a light scent, so it shouldn't bother you at all."

Harry spritzed a bit of the cologne on his wrist, and sure enough, it was a pleasant smell; almost like cinnamon. "I'm sure Hermione'll like this," he said, and Lupin chuckled. He also received a practice snitch, which had a switch that could control the speed of the tiny golden ball. "So it won't fly away," Sirius explained. "There's a high, medium, and a low setting, and it has an alarm to let you know where it's gone. It also has a feature where you clap and have it return from where it's flying. Supposedly the Quidditch World Cup players use it all the time at practice."

Harry held the replica of the golden snitch, amazed at how realistic it looked. He peered closely at the switch, and, just for amusement, turned it onto medium. It zoomed above his head and towards the top of the Christmas tree, startling Hedwig, who hooted in irritation.

"Clap, Harry," Sirius told him, and Harry did as he was told. He clapped twice, and the ball immediately began to make its way towards him. He quickly caught it in his palm, feeling the tiny wings fluttering fast against his hand.

"That's really cool," he said. "This'll be great for practice!"

"One more gift," Sirius added, handing Harry another package. It was large and flat, and he peered at it with curiosity. "This was in your bedroom at Godric's Hollow. I…I gave it to Hagrid when he took the motorcycle, and had him keep it safe until well…" Sirius' voice cracked, and Harry decided it was best not to answer, and he tore the paper carefully from the object. Inside sat a large frame, with a collection of pictures of his parents and friends. "You can hang it in your dormitory," Sirius whispered, and Harry watched as the pictures were moving; the subjects smiling and waving.

"That's their wedding picture, isn't it?" Harry asked, pointing to the center photograph. He recognized his mother at once, her long red hair hanging loose about her shoulders. Her green eyes were shining as she stood next to her husband; she wore a long, old fashioned, white wedding gown, and a crown of flowers around her head. James Potter wore a black suit and tie, and looked like the happiest man alive.

"Yeah," Sirius explained. "There are more."

"Oh my God, is this you?" Harry laughed, pointing at another picture on the left. It was of the four Marauders, though the sight of Peter Pettigrew made his blood boil. Sirius peered at the photograph, and began chuckling. "Look, Remus," he laughed, and his friend glanced over Harry's shoulder.

"Oh dear." Lupin laughed along with his friend. "Look at James…good gracious, he was always fussing with his hair!"

"Sirius, this is great," Harry said softly. "Thank you." He gave his godfather another hug, and felt Sirius kiss the top of his head quickly.

"You're welcome, Harry."

"Now you," Harry insisted.

The rest of the gift opening went without much ado, and when they were finished, Sirius made the three of them a pot of hot cocoa in the kitchen. The entire day was a quiet affair, and Lupin spent until late evening with them. "I should go," he began, once dinner was over, and clean up finished. "I had a really good time, Sirius. And Harry. Thank you for letting me stay."

Sirius gave his good friend a hug. "Anytime, Remus."

"I'll see you at Hogwarts, then, Harry. Well…" he pause, looking at Sirius. "Possibly sooner. Enjoy the rest of your holiday."

Harry watched as Lupin disappeared down the hallway, and, when Sirius shut the door after him, Harry went to sit down on the couch. "It's been a good Christmas," he said softly, and Sirius sat down next to him.

"You bet," he replied. "Harry, I…I wanted to tell you something."

"Mmmm?" Harry sipped from a glass of water, which he had used to take a couple of advil down for his current headache.

"There's something I…thought you should know about Remus and I. He will be coming over more frequently," he added, and Harry smiled.

"I'd like that," he replied, and Sirius lowered his head.

"Harry," he began, "haven't you…wondered…why I haven't been dating any women? Why I haven't had…a you know, girl to speak of?"

Harry nearly choked on his water. "Well, I kind of thought it was because you'd been in Azkaban for twelve years, Sirius," he admitted. "You didn't have time for girls!"

Sirius smirked. "Well, true, but…I mean…you would think, a single man my age would be interested in looking, right?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. You've been preoccupied with me since you got out of prison."

"Harry, listen. This is going to be very awkward for you, I'm afraid, but I…I've been waiting for the right time to tell you, and I figure now is best."

"You're…" Harry swallowed. "you're gay, aren't you?"

Sirius was very quiet, and Harry blinked. "Yes, Harry." Sirius replied.

"Why are you telling me this now? You've had forever to tell me," Harry replied, and Sirius touched his shoulder.

"You had a lot on your mind, Harry. It's not a bad thing, you know. Lupin and I discussed it a lot over the past year while you were at school, trying to reach a conclusion to how we felt about each other. We've been feeling as more than friends since we left Hogwarts, but then of course, as you said, there was the little detour at Azkaban."

"An old married couple," Harry muttered under his breath, remembering what Snape had told Sirius and Lupin in the shrieking shack. He'd wondered what the potions' master had meant by that. "Sirius, I'm not freaked out, I'm…surprised, I guess, but I'm glad you…"

"Harry, if you're upset by it, that's understandable," Sirius replied. "But it's the truth. I hope this doesn't make your class with Remus awkward," he added quietly, and Harry shrugged.

"No," he promised. "It won't, Sirius. I'm glad you told me."

Sirius sighed with relief. "Good," he agreed. "I'm sorry I took this long to tell you."

Harry shook his head. "Sirius," he replied, "it's okay, really. I'm not condemning you or anything for being in love with my teacher."

Sirius laughed heartily, and pretended to put his nephew in a headlock. Eventually he let go, and hugged Harry tight. "Well, I'm glad you're okay with this. I honestly wasn't sure how you'd react…it was a rather sudden bit of news, you know."

It was Harry's turn to laugh. "As if I'm not used to sudden news already." He suddenly paused, sneezing into the crook of his arm.

"Bless you," Sirius told him quietly. "I think you're coming down with a cold, Harry. You've had a bit of a fever all day." He rested the back of his hand against Harry's forehead. "Not as warm, but I really want you to take it easy."

"I know." Harry cleared his throat. "Sirius, I really do miss Hermione. A lot."

Sirius gave Harry a hug. "I know you do. I know. She's helped you through so much. I'm sure you'll be able to see her over the rest of the holiday, though."

Harry settled back against the couch. He hoped, deep down, that he would one day marry Hermione. It was very early for that to even be a thought, he knew…they were only sixteen, after all! But he loved her so much; loved her with everything he had in him. And didn't his own parents fall in love at sixteen, and marry not long after they graduated from Hogwarts? It wasn't unheard of.

"I wouldn't let her go for anything," he told his godfather, who smiled.

"I'm sure she knows that, Harry," he replied. "She's very lucky to have you."

Harry gazed up at the ceiling, still bewitched by Sirius' Christmas charm. He felt his eyes drooping after a while, and, after a bit of prodding, decided to turn in again.

"Merry Christmas," he told Sirius, who nodded.

"Good night, Harry." Sirius settled back as Harry went into his room, and watched as Hedwig adjusted herself on her perch. He gazed towards the window, and smiled when he saw snow beginning to fall once more. "It is a very Merry Christmas," he added to himself. "I am thankful to have Harry here with me." He stood, removing his wand from his pocket, and aimed it at the fireplace. Water spurted out from the end, extinguishing the flames, so the only light in the room was from the twinkling stars. "Night Hedwig," Sirius whispered, before deciding to turn in himself.


	39. Chapter 39: Return to Hogwarts

Chapter 39

Return to Hogwarts

The rest of the Christmas holiday went by without much incident, to Sirius' relief. Harry suffered a slight cold for most of it, but he was not sick enough to be bed ridden. Hermione, much to Harry's disappointment, was whisked off with her parents to a ski lodge, for the rest of the vacation. She wasn't all that happy about the idea, but Harry knew her parents missed having her around. As a result, he spent as much time as he could with Sirius and Lupin, who were very calm around him.

The night before Harry was to return to Hogwarts, he and Sirius sat having a nice dinner at one of the local pubs. "So are you all ready to go back, Harry?" he asked, as he worked through his steak and potatoes.

"Yeah. I cant wait to see Hermione. I'll probably jump her," he laughed, and Sirius grinned.

"That stinks that she had to go away," he admitted. "Though you weren't feeling so well. It was probably best that you played it kind of low key for the rest of the holiday. How are you feeling?" he added, and Harry glanced up from his bowl of beef stew.

"Better," he replied. "I felt like I slept for several years over the past few days." He gave another small cough; his chest was still a tiny bit tight, and his head a bit stuffy. "So how are we getting back to Hogwarts? Floo powder?"

Sirius smiled. "Yeah, that's probably easiest. We'll head over around noon tomorrow. Is that all right? Gives you a chance to sleep in."

Harry nodded. "That's fine." He finished the last of his stew, and began sipping from his mug of tea. "Sirius, I'm so tired of being sick," he growled. "I don't even remember what being healthy felt like." He pushed his bowl aside, and rested his head in his arms. Sirius rubbed his godson's back comfortingly.

"Well, the good thing is, you're definitely much better than last summer. Unfortunately, it weakened you forever, I think. I'm not sure if you'll ever be completely well, Harry." He nearly choked on his words, and had to swallow a mouthful of ale before continuing. "You're just more prone to catching colds and such, but that's why you have to keep a close eye on yourself."

Harry blew out his breath. "I know. I try, I really do." He gazed up at the ceiling, and watched as customers came in and out of the resturaunt. "I did have a good holiday, Sirius. I was so used to spending Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter…all at Hogwarts. I mean, I didn't mind it so much, because I usually had Ron to hang out with, but I'm glad I have a family to come home to."

Sirius gave Harry a quick hug. "I'm glad you're here too, kid," he agreed.

After dinner, they made their way back to the apartment. Harry packed the last of his things into his trunk, and cleaned out Hedwig's cage. For the rest of the evening, he sat watching a bit of television, and went to bed fairly early again.

The next day, Harry's heart was racing; he would be seeing Hermione again in a mere matter of hours! He couldn't wait to hold her close, to kiss her, just to be in her presence was enough to intoxicate him. He drug his trunk out into the living room, where Sirius stood talking on the phone. "Yeah…yup…okay, see you." He hung it up, and then went to stand beside Harry. "Are you ready?" he asked, and Harry nodded. "Here, let me take Hedwig's cage, and we'll be ready to go."

Harry gripped his trunk, and waited for his godfather to shout, "HOGWARTS!". When he did, they were engulfed by the bright green flames, and plunged into a sickening whirlwind of color. Harry closed his eyes tight, his stomach rolling over. They eventually came to a stop, and appeared in the fireplace of Gryffindor tower.

"Harry!" Ron cried, from where he sat on one of the blood-red chairs. He waved frantically as Sirius helped Harry carry his things into the main area. "Hermione just arrived, too," he added. "Lavender's coming later on, but she'll be here before the welcome back feast."

"Hermione's here?" Harry asked, just as the door to the girl's dormitory opened.

"Harry!" Hermione shrieked with delight. She wore a long, plaid skirt and a white top with a dark green cardigan. Her hair hung loosely at her shoulders, and she was beaming. Sirius gave Harry a quick kiss, and then announced that he would be returning to London.

"Did you have a good holiday?" he asked Ron, before he prepared to use the floo network again. Ron nodded.

"Pretty good, yeah. You?"

"It was nice," Sirius added. "Go get her," he whispered into Harry's ear, before disappearing once again into the green flames. Harry set the trunk down, and immediately, he and Hermione dashed for each other. She threw herself into his arms, and he kissed her lips, her cheeks, her forehead, and her neck.

"Oh I've missed you," Hermione gasped, burying her face against his chest. "I'm so sorry I couldn't see you over the holiday. I would have said no about going skiing again, but Mum and Dad wanted to spend time with me, so…"

Harry touched her lips gently with his fingers. "You don't have to explain," he replied, kissing her again. "I'm just so glad to be here again with you."

Ron pretended to gag, and Hermione shot him a look. "Oh please," she scoffed. "You'll be making out with Lavender all over the place when she gets here!"

Ron smirked. "So," he began, once Harry and Hermione were on another chair, cuddling tight. "What did you and Sirius do for Christmas, Harry?"

Harry swallowed, not sure if he should tell Ron and Hermione about Sirius' sudden announcement. But he usually told them everything, and it wasn't as though something awful had happened. "You guys won't believe what I found out this week," he replied, as Hermione laced her fingers through his.

"What?" Hermione asked. "Oooh, is that new cologne?" she asked, sniffing slightly, and Harry chuckled.

"Yes. Do you like it?"

She grinned. "I love it. I didn't think you wore cologne."

Harry shrugged. "Sirius got it for me," he explained. "But speaking of Sirius…" when he told Ron and Hermione about Sirius and Lupin, both of them were staring at him.

"Oh, no way!" Ron cried. "You know, well, actually…I kind of wondered…back at the Shrieking Shack…"

"How do you feel about it, Harry?" Hermione asked quietly, and he gave another shrug.

"I don't know. I mean, I guess I'm okay with it. It's their choice. I don't really have any control over whether I want it to be true or not."

"Oh this is going to be strange now," Hermione chuckled. "It was good of Sirius to tell you, though."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, it was."

"Just weird," Ron admitted.

"I was sick again over Christmas, though," Harry told Ron and Hermione, whose eyes widened in alarm.

"And you didn't…" Hermione began, and Harry smiled.

"You were out of town," he pointed out. "and I just had a cold. Stayed in bed for two days with a fever, and then felt better. I'm still a little sick, actually." He sniffled, and rubbed his nose with his wrist. Hermione looked at him.

"I'm so sorry," she said.

"Well, Sirius told me the fever I had last year probably weakened me to the point that I won't ever get truly better," Harry explained. "It's not a far-fetched idea, either."

Ron looked down at his feet. "I'm sorry, mate."

Harry shook his head. "Ron, don't be." He paused, and Hermione immediately recognized the look on his face. He sneezed, making both of them jump.

"Bless you," Ron and Hermione told him in unison.

"Thanks," Harry croaked. "Sorry." He nuzzled Hermione's neck. "So what time is Lavender coming?"

Ron checked his watch. "She said around five. She was going to pick up Jess, who lives about an hour away from her, and they were coming back together."

Harry nodded in understanding. "So, have anyone else come back yet? Or are we the only early ones?" he rubbed his nose again, accepting a tissue from Hermione.

"Well, Neville came after breakfast, and Seamus came right after I did. They're both taking a walk by the lake."

Hermione giggled, and Harry nudged her playfully. "It feels good to be back in school," he sighed happily. "And with you," he added, and Hermione gave him another kiss.

Hermione sighed contentedly. "Yes," she breathed.

"Oh, you won't believe what I started reading over the holidays," Harry spoke up, and Hermione turned to him with surprise. "Professor Lupin spent Christmas day with us, and he got me a copy of Phantom of the Opera…the book, anyway."

Hermione stared. "And you've been reading it?"

"Yes. Nearly done with it, now. Hermione, if Malfoy tries anything funny during rehearsals, I'll…"

Hermione laughed. "Yeah, he gets to 'seduce' me," she said. "But I end up with you, you know."

"Nice job spoiling it, Hermione!" Ron scoffed. "Well, I'm going upstairs to take a nap before Lavender comes, because I'm sure she'll want to make out all night. You two doing anything? Want me to take your trunk up, Harry?" he added, and Hermione looked over her shoulder.

"Ron, if you could, that would be great," Harry replied.

"Right, then." Ron snagged Harry's trunk, and with a mighty grunt, began to drag it towards the staircase. When he'd disappeared, Harry rested his chin on Hermione's shoulder. The feeling of his warm breath in her ear made her shudder with pleasure, and she turned so she was facing him again.

"I love you," she whispered, as he ran his fingers through her curly hair.

"I love you, too." He kissed her forehead. "And God, I've really missed you. It hurt."

Hermione put her hand over his heart, and leaned into another kiss. "Just kiss me," she told him, and he obliged.

When the dinner hour arrived, the Gryffindor common room was completely crowded once again. Ron and Lavender, as Hermione predicted, were making out in the corner by the fireplace, receiving rounds of applause from Dean and Seamus. Ginny and Hermione were catching up about their holidays, and Jessica and Erin were currently speaking with Fred and George.

"Let's go to dinner, eh? I'm starved!" Dean shouted, and Lavender broke her current kiss.

"Come on, Ronald," she teased, pinching his cheek.

"Since when have you ever called me 'Ronald'?" Ron snorted, wrapping an arm around her waist. Harry took Hermione's hand, which felt so warm and soft, and they followed each other through the portrait hole.

"They're doing it again," Lavender whispered to Ron, peering over her shoulder at the Weasley twins. "I swear, if they cause any trouble with my cousin this term, I'll…"

"It's not worth it," Hermione broke in. "Really, it isn't. They'll just have to learn on their own who to spend time with and who not to."

Lavender gritted her teeth against making another comment, and they entered the Great Hall. Once everyone was sitting at their tables and waiting patiently, Professor Dumbledore stood up to make a few quick announcements.

"I hope everyone had a most pleasant holiday," he began. "Before we become befuddled by our fantastic feast, I have a few announcements to make. First, rehearsals for Phantom of the Opera will begin next Monday at 7:00. Professor Snape has requested that if you have not begun reading through your scripts, that you do so immediately, and attempt to begin memorizing your lines."

Harry looked at Hermione, who was listening to the headmaster intently. He then felt the urge to sneeze, and though he managed to stifle it, Hermione felt him shift beside her, and quickly whispered, "Bless you," while rubbing his back.

"Second," Dumledore continued, "the final Hogsmeade visit will take place on Valentines day. Please turn your forms into your head of house as soon as possible. And finally, our caretaker, Mr. Filch, reminds students to please remember to wipe all mud off of your shoes when returning from being outdoors. Thank you." He sat down, and, with a tap of Professor McGonagall's spoon against her glass goblet, the tables immediately filled with the familiar abundance of food.

"A Valentines Day trip to Hogsmeade will be so romantic, Harry, don't you think?" Hermione asked, helping herself to a helping of chicken pot pie. He kissed her cheek.

"You bet. I had Sirius sign my form when the holidays first started, so I wouldn't forget." He looked up at Ron and Lavender who were both stealing kisses between bites. "You are such a hypocrite," he laughed, and Ron merely winked.

"I was hoping the spell would have worn off over the holiday," he heard Neville saying to Angelina. "I mean, it can't be a permanent spell, can it?"

She shrugged. "I'm actually quite excited about the show," she replied. "I've always wanted to try acting.

"I'm glad we're working with the lights," Erin told Jess, beaming. She didn't notice the wicked grins Fred and George exchanged with one another, but Hermione did.

"I really should have a word with those two in the common room when we get back," she whispered in Harry's ear. He smiled, and nuzzled her neck. "Oh stop," she laughed, kissing him on the cheek. "If you keep doing that, I'm going to have to jump you in public." She accepted a kiss on the lips, and then another.

Malfoy, who sat at the Slytherin table, shouted, "Get a room, Potter! The rest of us don't need to see you making out with a mudblood. Bad enough we hear about it; that's disgusting enough, thanks!"

Harry glared, and Hermione touched his arm. "Don't," she warned, as he turned away from the laughing Slytherins. "Maybe we can take our dinners back to the common room," Harry whispered. "I really just want to…"

"Make out with me?" Hermione giggled, blushing, as he brushed her hair away from her neck.

"I always want to make out with you," he replied.

"Well, I'm nearly finished," Hermione said, pointing to her plate. "We'll just have a few more bites and then go. You've barely eaten half."

"That's because he's too infatuated," Lavender laughed. "Ron hasn't eaten much, either." She pointed to Ron's plate, and Hermione noticed that Ron was too busy gazing into Lavender's eyes.

"Boys," Hermione smirked.

When dinner ended, Harry and Hermione were the first to return to the Gryffindor common room. Immediately, Harry hoisted Hermione into his arms, and began kissing her passionately. They fell onto one of the chairs, and Hermione felt as though she couldn't let go of Harry; she didn't want to. She felt so safe when she was holding her.

"Your glasses keep getting in the way," Hermione laughed, as she attempted to put her forehead to his. She removed them, and put them on the table beside the chair. They were still kissing when Ron and Lavender returned, and both stood grinning.

"Talk about horny!" Ron teased, giving Lavender a small slap on the behind.

"Ooh!" she shrieked with amusment.

"They have to come up for air some time," Jess announced, as she and Erin climbed through the portrait hole, and stood watching. Harry and Hermione eventually broke apart, and Hermione lay her head against Harry's chest.

"It feels so good to be back," she added, and Harry agreed.

"It certainly does," he replied, taking in the usual noise of the Gryffindor common room at night.


	40. Chapter 40: The Truth Comes Out

Chapter 40

The truth comes out

"Bless you," Hermione whispered, after Harry sneezed silently for the fourth time in History of Magic the next day. The two of them sat together, desparately trying to stay awake, which was quite difficult with Professor Binns' droning voice.

"You really need to go and see Madame Pomfrey about this cold," Hermione told him, once class ended. "You've been sneezing all morning."

Harry sighed, checking his watch. "Yeah, I guess I'd better," he muttered regretfully. "I really don't want to bother her, though. I don't really feel all that sick."

Hermione shrugged. "She can at least give you some pepper-up potion to clear your head." She gave Harry a kiss on the cheek. "I'll walk you there. We have a half hour until Defense Against the Dark Arts, and even if you're late, Professor Lupin won't be annoyed by it."

Harry smirked; Hermione was usually a stickler for time. "Okay." He took her hand, and the two of them made their way to the infirmary. Madame Pomfrey was tending to a third year girl, whose right hand was completely blown up to the size of a balloon.

"Hello, Mr. Potter," Madame Pomfrey greeted. "Is everything all right?"

Hermione nudged Harry forward, and stood waiting patiently. "Well, I've been sneezing a lot today…I'm getting over a cold I had at Christmas."

She nodded, poking the third year's arm with a needle-like object. The girl let out a whimper, and watched with amazement as the liquid from the needle began to deflate her hand quickly to its normal size. "See? I told you it would be just fine, dear. Just be more careful next time. That's why you have to pronunciate very clearly with your spells in charms."

"Thank you," the girl replied, staring with awe at Harry after she'd been bandaged and sent on her way.

"Have a seat," Madame Pomfrey encouraged, pointing to the now empty cot. "You don't need to stay, Miss Granger," she added, and Hermione swallowed.

"Well, I…" Hermione began, and Harry smiled at her.

"I'll be okay," he promised. "I'll see you in class."

She hurried over to give him another kiss, and, waving sadly, hurried out into the crowded corridor. Once she was gone, the nurse began to fill a flask of pepper-up potion, which Harry recognized instantly by the pinkish-tint it contained. "How exactly do you feel, Potter?" she asked, stirring it a little with a spoon.

"Fine," Harry replied. "Well, except for a bit of a headache. My throat doesn't hurt anymore, though."

"Mmmm." She placed her hand against his forehead. "Well, you certainly don't appear to have a fever, which is a good sign. You're probably just starting to come to the end of your recovery from the holiday. Was it bad this time?"

Harry shook his head. "Well, not really. I was in bed for a few days, but I recovered pretty quick from it."

"I see. Well, take this down, and if you don't start to feel any improvements by tomorrow, come back to see me."

Harry took the flask, drinking the liquid down as fast as he could. He closed his eyes as it burned a little down his throat, and could already feel the smoke billowing out of his ears. When he calmed down, Madame Pomfrey took the flask back, and handed him a package of tissues. "Always good to keep these handy," she explained, and Harry nodded, pocketing them.

"Thanks," he replied, checking his watch one more time. He still had twenty minutes, so he did not have to rush.

"Are you ready to begin rehearsals for the musical?" Madame Pomfrey asked, as she cleaned out the flask. Harry swung his backpack over his shoulders.

"I suppose so," he replied. "I'm nervous, though. I've never done anything like this before."

She smiled at him. "You'll do fine. I hear your auditions were very impressive."

Harry smiled back. "Yeah, well…" he shrugged. "thanks again, Madame Pomfrey." He hurried out, bumping into Erin by accident who was coming in the opposite direction.

"Oh!" she cried, as her bag fell to the ground.

"I'm sorry," Harry apologized, bending down to help her pick up her books. "Hi, Erin."

"Hello, Harry," Erin replied politely. "Are you all right? Were you coming from the infirmary?" she zipped her bag and put it over her shoulder again.

"Yeah. It's nothing," Harry insisted.

"Where are you off to?" she walked beside him, scooting to the side when she saw Malfoy coming towards her with Crabbe and Goyle at his sides.

"Out of the way, mudblood," Malfoy snarled, and Erin glared at him.

"Shut up, Malfoy," Harry snapped.

"You take that back," Erin added, and the Slytherin looked at her with amusement.

"I'll call whomever I please a mudblood, shrimp," Malfoy told her haughtily, and, to both Erin and Harry's surprise, let out a yelp a moment later. Jess had come up from behind, kicking him hard against the back of the knee.

"Don't you ever call her that again!" Jess yelled. "Or I'm going to Professor Dumbledore!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Don't you all have somewhere you have to be, eh?"

The group turned, and they saw Filch coming towards them, with Mrs. Norris at his heels. Malfoy glared at Erin, who was clutching her wand protectively against her chest. He turned on his heel and stalked off, and Harry touched Erin's shoulder.

"Don't listen to him," he told her. "He's always making fun of people who aren't in Slytherin."

"Malfoy's a big prat," Jess snapped. "I never take anything he says seriously."

"He called Hermione a mudblood our second year," Harry explained.

"Some people are so terrible," Jess added, as they followed Harry towards Professor Lupin's classroom. "My father is a muggle, after all. Half and half," she told Harry. "Muggleborns aren't bad! There are so few purebloods left, after all. Without muggles to marry, we probably wouldn't exist very long."

"My parents are both muggles," Erin told Harry, still a bit tearful from her run-in with Malfoy.

"Same with Hermione," Harry added. "Oh, well, I have to go…this is my stop. You two take it easy, all right?"

"Goodbye, Harry," Jess called, waving as he disappeared into Lupin's classroom.

The rest of the day passed without incident. In Potions, Professor Snape kept trying to catch each of them off guard, asking questions about the Phantom script. He seemed utterly disappointed when Harry knew almost as much as Hermione did about the plot line and character relationships. Hermione beamed at him everytime he answered a question correctly, and Harry decided an extra thank you to Professor Lupin was in order.

"See?" she told him, as they sat together working on their assignments later that evening in the common room after dinner. "Reading for fun does come in handy!" Hermione had her nose in her Ancient Runes text, jotting down notes on a roll of parchment. Harry was struggling through his Charms essay, feeling considerably better after the pepper-up potion.

Ron and Lavender had gone for a stroll along the bank of the lake, because it was beginning to get darker later.

The portrait hold suddenly swung open, revealing Jess and Erin, both of whom were giggling uncontrollably. Fred and George followed after them, both looking rather sour.

"What?" Hermione asked, and Erin tried her best to stop laughing. Though everytime she'd quiet down, Jess would start up again.

"All right, all right!" George snapped. "So we should have graduated at the end of last year."

"We didn't think it was necessary to finish school," Fred added, and Harry looked up from his parchment. "Didn't think it was necessary to take N.E.W.T.'s, so we decided to drop out. The education system isn't really our scene, you know."

"Of course, Mum well, had a big row with us after she found out."

"And threatened to disown us if we didn't come back to re-take certain classes," George finished. "Took a while to convince us to go back, though."

"But here we are," Fred added, and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"It's always good to have an education under your belt," she began, "even if you do want to start a joke shop. At least you'll have a more…respectable reputation."

The twins eyed Harry uncomfortably; Harry had given the stack of gold he'd won from the Triwizard tournament to them, and they had sworn not to tell anyone about it.

"You can stop laughing now," Fred told Erin and Jess, who had their mouths covered, and were pointing at them.

"I'm sorry," Erin giggled. "but…but…"

"I was frightened," Jess told Hermione. "when they told us they were eighteen. I thought perhaps the rules had changed. Imagine, trying to bear Professor Snape for eight years instead of seven!"

"One is bad enough!" Erin agreed.

Everyone laughed.

"Are you satisfied, then?" George asked, and the little girls grinned at each other, nodding.

"Very," Erin replied, taking a bite of her apple, and plopping down at one of the tables to start her own homework.

"Hermione," Harry began, after he set his quill aside. "Would you check this over for me? I'm about half done."

Hermione looked up from her reading, and nodded. "Sure." She accepted the essay, just as Ron and Lavender came back, holding hands. Ron was whispering something in Lavender's ear, making her giggle and blush.

"How was your walk?" Harry asked, clearing his throat, and watching as Hermione marked certain areas with her own quill.

"It was wonderful," Lavender replied, twirling around. "It's so beautiful to watch the sunset."

"Marry me, darling," George told Fred, kneeling down and taking his twin's hand. "I love you soooo…"

"Shut up," Ron snapped, as George began to sing in an operatic voice.

"Glad you two had a nice walk," Harry agreed. "Hermione." She glanced at him, and he leaned across the table to kiss her. Hermione hopped up from her seat, and went to sit on his lap.

"This is good," she told him. "You have a few errors, but nothing serious." She shuddered with pleasure as he ran his hands down her arms, and nuzzled her neck. Jess and Erin were both watching, their tongues sticking out with disgust.

"Excuse me," Jess spoke up. "Some of us have just eaten!"

Hermione, after giving Harry another kiss, looked at the younger girls. "You'll understand how wonderful men are one day," she told them, and, after the girls looked at Fred and George, who were jumping around and acting like a bunch of monkeys, and smirked.

"Nah," they both replied in unison, and began giggling again.

"So," Ron grunted as he and Lavender plopped down onto a free chair. "Are you lot ready for rehearsal on Monday?"

Harry snorted, listening as Erin quietly sung a verse of, "When Irish Eyes are Smiling", and wrapped his arms around Hermione.

"Sure," he chortled. "You?"

"No," Ron replied. "Barely am two pages into the script."

"Your loss," Lavender added.

"You should talk," Ron smirked. "You don't even have any lines to worry about."

"Thank goodness," Lavender admitted, and winked. "You and Harry are lucky, though" she added. "I mean, you end up together at the end of the play. How funny is that? I mean, you get to share on-stage kisses and everything!"

"Oh yeah," Hermione said dreamily, massaging Harry's fingers. "You have an ink stain," she laughed, holding his hand up so he could see it.

"Are you going to clean it off for him or what, Hermione?" Ron laughed.

"It looks cute. I might leave it there," she teased, and Harry merely winked.

As the evening drug on, the common room began to once again fill up to it's usual capacity. Most of the Gryffindors sat in the common area working on homework or playing games; Dean and Parvati were in the middle of a game of wizard's chess. "I'm horrible at chess, Dean, I warned you," Parvati told him.

"You won the first round," Dean snorted.

"I'm really getting tired," Hermione yawned, stretching her arms over her head.

"It's from reading too much," Harry laughed, as an explosion came from the corner. Ginny was playing exploding snap with Seamus, and began clapping at the noise.

"It's almost eleven," Hermione told him, pointing to her watch. "Tomorrow's Friday, Harry, not Saturday yet. I promise, we can stay up as late as we please tomorrow night." She stroked his cheek, and he helped her up.

"I should call it a night, too," Lavender agreed. "Anyone who cares about their beauty sleep follow us, please," she called, and the other girls began packing up their things. Ron made a point to pull Lavender aside, and kissed her as she finished zipping her bag.

"Good night," she said, wiggling her eyebrows. "Won-Won."

Hermione burst into laughter, and nudged Lavender's arm. "Won-Won? Is that your new nickname for him now?" she chortled.

"See you in the morning, Lav-Lav," Ron retorted, and then grinned, waving. When the girls disappeared into their dormitory, he looked at Harry. "Oy," he smirked, "Women."

Harry laughed.


	41. Chapter 41: The First Rehearsal

Chapter 41

The First Rehearsal

"Settle down, everyone…please take your seats," Professor Snape announced the following Monday at precisely seven o'clock. All of Hogwarts seemed to be filtering through the auditorium doors…Harry walked in with Hermione, holding her hand and carrying his script in the other.

Professor McGonagall stood off to the side, talking very seriously to Erin and Jess, because they were in charge of lighting and special effects.

Harry and Hermione joined Ron, Lavender, Ginny, Neville, Seamus and Dean in the front section, and watched with amusement as Snape paced back and forth. "SETTLE DOWN!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, and the auditorium became silent at once. "Thank you. Now…welcome to the first rehearsal of our musical. I trust you have been reading through your scripts," he added, and there was a murmer of contempt rustling through the crowd.

"Rehearsals will be held this time each week till opening night on the Easter holiday. That gives us three solid months of preparation, and if you have even the least bit of competency, I expect we will be able to accomplish a well-rounded performance by then." He stared at them, just as Fred and George Weasley burst through the doors, making their way quickly down the isles. "You're late," he told the twins, who sat down in the middle.

"Sorry, sir," Fred replied, out-of-breath. "Got caught by Peeves."

Snape aimed his wand at him. "It won't happen again," he sneered, and George raised an eyebrow.

"Now," Snape continued. "All leads, please come up here, so everyone can have a good look at you."

Hermione blew out her breath, and followed her friends, Lavender excluded as she was a dancer, onto the stage. Cho and Harry glanced at each other and quickly turned away again. It was hard to believe he'd ever had such a crush on her. Sure, she was beautiful, but it was Hermione he'd always cared about.

"Good, god. Why not introduce yourselves, then. Tell us your names, the house you belong to, and the role you've received." He clapped his hands, and one by one, they rattled off the information.

"Thank you. Tonight's rehearsal will be a reading night. All extras may leave…just remember to report according to the schedule in your scripts. Leads, remain here, so we can begin reading through the first act. Ah, and…Miss Brown and Miss McShannan, I'll need to see the both of you up on the stage immediately."

Erin and Jess squeaked in fear…they were deathly afraid of Snape, but, with encouragement from Professor McGonagall, made their way timidly to the stage.

"You will be working with the special effects. Am I correct?" he asked, and Erin opened her mouth to reply, but no words came out. She stood rigid with fear, her skin turning ghastly white.

"Yes, sir," Jess answered for her. Snape nodded in understanding.

"Good. And has Professor McGonagall explained what your duties will be?"

Jess clasped her hands behind her back, and stood up straight. "Yes. She said we were to follow a specific set of instructions from the Theatrical Magic spell book, and only use the spells that she has marked. Only when given further notice are we to change anything, sir."

Snape narrowed his eyes. "Good. You will be operating from up there." He pointed to a box far above the auditorium, near the rim of the curtains. Jess gulped, and fiddled with the hem of her robes.

"Yes, sir."

"Here is your specified schedule," he added, and handed a paper to Jess. He handed one to Erin, who immediately dropped it, and, embarrassed, scrambled to pick it up from the floor. "That will be all. You may go."

Jess pulled a practically petrified Erin off of the stage, with a bit of difficulty. When they left the auditorium after the crowd of extras, Snape ordered the leads to sit in a circle on the stage. For the remainder of the hour and a half, they read through the first act, trying to be dramatic as possible.

They worked on the auction scene first, where Harry's character was supposed to be an old gentleman by that point in time. Dean was the auctioneer, who was shouting bids.

"…_sold! Your number, sir? Thank you. Lot 667, then, ladies and gentlemen…a papier mache musical box in the shape of a barrel organ. Attached, the figure of a monkey in Persian robes, playing the symbols. This item, discovered in the vaults of the theater, still in working order, ladies and gentlmen! Showing here!"_

Harry glanced at Hermione, who was watching Dean intently, though she herself was not quite a participant in this particular scene.

"_May I commence at fifteen francs? Fifteen, thank you. Yes, twenty francs from you, sir, thank you very much. Madame Giry?" _Ginny had raised her hand gingerly, and had her eyes on Harry. _"Madame Giry, twenty five, thank you, Madame. Twenty five I am bid. Do I hear thirty?" _Harry raised his hand, feeling stupid. Judging from the script, he wondered if he would have to take a dose of old age potion. There wouldn't be anyway he could pull off an old man looking as he did. Though sometimes, he did feel like one. _"And at thirty five? No? All right, selling at thirty francs, then. Thirty once, thirty twice, sold! To the Vicomte de Chagny. Thank you, sir."_

Snape pointed at the script. "Potter, you're supposed to sing in the background, here," he said, and Harry gulped.

"What?" he asked. "That line, there?"

"Let's hear what you sound like, then."

Harry, feeling distinctly humiliated, tried to ignore the smug smirk of Malfoy across the stage from him, and a nudge of encouragement from Hermione helped.

"A collector's piece in deed," he sung in a soft voice, "every detail…exactly as she said…" he paused. "will you still play when the rest of us are dead…"

Dean continued, "_Lot…then: a chandelier in pieces. Some of you may recall the strange affair of the Phantom of the Opera: a mystery never fully explained. We are told, ladies and gentlemen, that this is the very chandelier, which figures in the famous disaster. Our workshop have repaired it and wired parts of it for the new electric light. Perhaps we can frighten away the ghost of so many years ago, with a little…illumination. Gentlemen?"_

"This is where our first set of special effects will come in, then," Snape explained. "There will be a chandelier sitting here in the center of the stage, and Miss Brown and Miss McShannen will use a spell to make the chandelier lights come to life."

An excited, "Ooooh!" went through the crowd, and Snape held up his hand.

"Next act, go on, then, wasting time is not an option here!" he ordered them to turn to the next scene in their scripts.

The rehearsal continued in that fashion, until eight thirty when Snape finally allowed them to stop reading. "Pathetic," he told them. "Absolutely pathetic. But, of course, it's the first night, and I wasn't expecting anything better."

Hermione raised her hand. "Please, sir," she began, "I thought we did all right."

"Did I ask you to speak?" Snape snarled, and she lowered her head. "No, I didn't think so. I am the director, and I am the one allowed to speak. Report to the auditorium at the same time next Monday, and we'll try again from the beginning."

Harry and Hermione scrambled to their feet, and quickly took each other's hand. "Oh, it feels so good to actually recognize you!" Hermione laughed, as Ron caught up to them.

"Snape's a git," Ron growled. "I thought I delivered my lines all right, considering I hadn't read…"

"It's Snape, isn't it?" Harry asked, squeezing Hermione's hand affectionately as they made their way towards Gryffindor tower.

"Wait up, you three!" Ginny came flying after them, panting when she finally caught up. "Sorry, I had to ask Professor Snape about costumes."

They reached the common room ten minutes later, and what they saw when they entered made Hermione shriek. "Jess!" she exclaimed, horrified. "What have you done?"

The blonde-haired girl sat at one of the tables by the fireplace, her nose buried in the Theatrical Spellbook. Beside her on the next chair, sat an enormous, brightly colored peacock, who flapped its wings wildly. "That's not Erin!" Ginny cried, covering her mouth with her hand. The rest of their housemates were watching the situation with amusement, but didn't bother to interrupt their studies.

"This is really advanced magic," Jess gasped, flipping through the pages. Lavender sat on one of the plush chairs, giving her cousin a menacing look. "I'm not quite sure what I'm doing! I was just trying some of the effects out here, and well…" she pointed to Erin.

"You should take her to the infirmary," Ginny replied. "Madame Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall will set her right!"

Ron was laughing hysterically as he joined Lavender, who pinched his arm in warning. "What?" he asked, looking down. "It is funny, that!"

"Oh, keep your shirt on," Jess finally laughed, aiming her wand at Erin.

"Don't!" Hermione begged. "You don't know what you're…" A resounding POP filled the air, and everyone covered their eyes, not sure they wanted to see what the end result was.

"Got you!" Erin's giggles came next, and Hermione lowered her hands, finding a perfectly human-form of Erin in place of the peacock.

"You…you knew what you were doing all the time, didn't you?" she asked, and Jess beamed.

"Of course I did," she said proudly.

"Can I see that book?" Hermione added, as Harry sat down on an empty chair, feeling slightly drained. Jess handed it over, and, after sitting on Harry's lap, Hermione began flipping through the spells. She stared. "This really is very advanced magic," she gasped. "Almost N.E.W.T. level! How does Professor McGonagall expect two first years to handle this type of magic?"

Ron looked at Hermione. "If I remember correctly," he began, "you were the only first year able to make a feather fly in Flitwick's class."

"That's different," Hermione snapped, feeling Harry rub her back gently. "That was meant for our year!"

"I've always been exceptionally good at Transfiguration," Jess explained, watching as Erin levitated the table halfway towards the ceiling. "Erin's brilliant with charms. In fact…" Jess aimed her wand at Harry's head, and Hermione glared.

"You wouldn't dare…"

POP! She slowly turned around, expecting to see another giant bird sitting behind her. Instead, Harry sat where he'd always been, though on top of his head, sat a golden crown. "OW!" Harry yelped, when he tried to remove it, after Hermione told him it was all right. Jess gulped.

"Oh, sorry," she apologized. "I can make objects appear out of thin air, only they tend to er…stick to stuff."

"Have you been doing spells nonverbally?" Hermione asked, amazed, and Jess nodded.

"Yep! It's the easiest way to do it." She magically removed the crown from Harry's head, and Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"Actually," Hermione replied, "nonverbal spells are quite tricky. A lot of withces and wizards have difficulty with it at first."

"Really?" Jess asked, looking extremely proud of herself at that point.

"I still can't do it very well," Harry admitted. "And I'm a sixth year."

"Haha," Jess teased, pointing at him. "I'm better than you." She grinned, and then shook her head. "Just teasing, of course."

"I'm not very good with nonverbal," Erin admitted. "Accio, Trevor!" she pointed her wand at Neville's toad, which zoomed cleanly into the palm of her hand. "But every spell I've tried out loud in charms has worked for me. I'm getting better with transfigure…" POP!

Hermione slapped a hand against her forehead, as a peacock once again sat in Erin's spot. Jess plucked a feather from the bird, who gave an irritated squawk, and then aimed her wand back at it. POP! Erin appeared again, folding her arms tightly across her chest.

"What was that for?" she snapped, and Jess held up a feather.

"Now I have a peacock quill!" she exclaimed, delighted. "I've always wanted one!"

Erin scowled. "Couldn't you have transfigured one of your own hairs into a feather?" Erin asked, annoyed, and Jess raised her arms.

"Oh, get over it," she said huffily.

Lavender started to say something, but Ron nudged her. "Don't," he said, and she shook her head. "Excuse me," Lavender growled, "I have work to do, and I need to do it in peace and quiet."

"Where are you going?" Hermione asked, and Lavender sighed.

"Up to our dormitory."

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Ron asked, and she nodded, kissing him.

"Yes, once I get away from these two." She jabbed her thumb in Jess and Erin's direction. The little girls watched with amusement as Lavender gathered her school things, and stomped up the steps to the sixth year girl's dormitory.

"You really shouldn't take magic so lightly," Hermione told them, once Lavender was out of earshot.

"We're just having fun," Jess pouted, shutting her book, and watching as Harry kissed Hermione gently on the lips. After a moment of awkward silence, Jess and Erin looked at one another.

"You know," Jess continued, as Harry and Hermione broke apart again. "Erin and I were thinking about what you told us last week."

Hermione raised an eyebrow, pulling her Arithmancy book out of her knapsack. "Mmmhmmm?" she opened to the chapter Professor Vector assigned them to read that night, and closed her eyes as Harry massaged her shoulders.

"You're right," Jess added, "About men not being so bad when they get older. In fact, we want yours!"

Hermione dropped the book at once, and stared at them. "What?" she asked, and Erin giggled.

"Harry's really perfect," she said, "and very handsome, too. We were wondering if you would let us try him on for size."

Harry laughed. "I'm not that perfect," he insisted.

"Excuse me?" Hermione narrowed her eyes.

"Just to see if we like him or not," Jess added. "We think an experiment like this would be a good thing for us."

"You're not borrowing Harry," Hermione snapped. "We've been through too much together for me to give him up to anybody."

Clearly, Jess and Erin hadn't expected Hermione to get his upset over the matter, and they looked at each other worriedly. "It's been a hard summer and year," Harry told them. "It's a sensitive subject. Hey," Harry told Hermione, noticing the tears in her eyes. "Hermione, are you all right?"

"I have to…Harry, I'll talk to you tomorrow," she whispered, and quickly gave him a kiss.

"Hermione, we were just kidding you know," Erin told the older witch as she gathered her things, and, crying softly, hurried up the steps. "Oh dear," she added softly as they heard the sixth year dormitory shut.

"Oh, I feel like a git," Jess muttered, lowering her head. "I ought to go and apologize. I didn't mean to make her cry."

"You're…never going to get better, are you, Harry?" Erin asked, understanding why Hermione had gotten so upset at the prospect of someone wanting to take Harry from her. It had already happened before.

"I don't know," Harry admitted.

"What a mess we've made tonight," Erin told Jess, who was biting her lip.

"She'll be fine," Harry told them. "Snape was being hard on us at rehearsal, so she's hurt more easily. I would let her be until tomorrow."

The younger girls nodded. "We really do like you, Harry," Jess told him. "Obviously not like that, because you're too old for us."

Harry chuckled. "You're too young to be thinking about boys anyway," he said. "I didn't even start noticing girls until my fourth year, and it was still rather er…awkward. I didn't start dating Hermione till my fifth year. You have plenty of time."

Erin smiled. "Thanks, Harry." She wet her lips, and looked down at her parchment.

A loud snore came from Ron, and everyone turned to stare at him, just as the portrait hole opened, and the twins came through. "Oh," Jess announced. "Look what the dog dragged in!" she nudged Erin, and both of them aimed their wands at Fred and George. POP.

Everyone stared…now instead of one giant peacock, there were two, identical, slightly smaller ones. "There you are," Jess said, pointing. "Erin, you can have a peacock quill, too."

Harry nudged Ron's arm, and, after his friend gave a grunt, Ron opened his eyes. "Bloody hell!" he exclaimed, as Erin plucked a colorful feather from one of the peacocks.

POP! Fred and George reappeared, looking disgruntled. "Blimey," Fred cried. "What'd we do?"

"Were born," Jess added, sticking out her tongue. "And you were late."

"In case you liked to know," George added,

"We were in the kitchens."

"Fetching extra food that we'd like to share with you, but…"

"Obviously we're underappreciated."

Jess and Erin raised eyebrows at each other. "Oh!" they exclaimed in unison. "What did you get?"

"Ah ah," Fred told them, shaking his finger. "Not after that display."

"All right, all right," Jess growled. "We were just messing around."

"We're sorry," Erin promised, and soon, the twins displayed their finds, and the common room returned to normal again. Or, somewhat.


	42. Chapter 42: A Dash of Asphodel

Chapter 42

A Dash of Asphodel

Harry spent the rest of the night in the common room, hoping to catch Hermione on her way downstairs the next day. When she saw him sleeping in a chair by the fireplace in the morning, she smiled softly, and went to shake him gently.

"Harry?" she brushed his bangs away from his forehead, causing him to open his eyes.

"Hello," he whispered, his voice slightly hoarse. His joints ached, which certainly told him not to sleep in a chair all night again.

"Oh, Harry," Hermione whispered, wrapping her arms around him. "I'm so sorry about last night. I…I over reacted."

Harry smiled. "I know you're scared, Hermione," he told her, as she kissed him.

"I just don't want to loose you. You're still not well, and I'm…" she hiccoughed. "I'm scared."

He held her, stroking her hair. "Everything'll be fine," he told her softly. "Everyone's protecting me. Dumbledore, especially." He frowned, remembering the headmaster's attitude towards the incidents revolving around the Quidditch World Cup. Was Professor Dumbledore really able to protect him anymore? After all, Barty Crouch Jr. entered Hogwarts undetected and disguised as Mad-Eye Moody; surely Voldemort could do something worse, now that he was fully human. Or, if you could even call him that.

Still…he rested his chin on Hermione's shoulder, just as the other students were coming out of their dormitories, many still half asleep as they stumbled down the steps. Erin and Jess came after Colin and Dennis Creevey, and immediately the two first year girls dashed over to Hermione, giving her enormous hugs.

"We are so sorry about last night, Hermione," Jess apologized, staring at the sixth year girl with wide eyes. "We didn't mean to upset you. We were just joking around."

Hermione smiled at them, as Lavender and Ron came over.

"Is there anything we can do to make it up to you?" Erin asked, chewing awkwardly on the edge of her nail.

Hermione shook her head ."No," she told them. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten all bent out of shape about it. It's okay," she promised, when they both started to proest. Harry coughed as Hermione stood, pulling him to his feet.

"Come on," Ron encouraged, pointing towards the portrait hole, which was open as everyone made their way through it. Harry coughed again, massaging his chest, and received a look of concern from Lavender.

"Are you sick?' she asked, and harry shook his head.

"No," he replied, allowing Hermione to lift his backpack for him. "I've got it," he promised, swinging it over his shoulder. When he was settled, he took Hermione's hand, causing her to let out an, "Eek!" with surprise as they reached the portrait hole at last.

"Your hands are frozen!" she gasped. "I don't think sleeping in a chair all night long is good for you. Don't do it again," she ordered, noticing just how pale he seemed compared to the other day. They made their way out of the common room, where Jess and Erin met up with a few other Ravenclaw first years they were friends with, and hurried on ahead in a group to the Great Hall.

"You slept downstairs?" Lavender asked, and Hermione nodded.

"It's a long story," she replied, as Harry kissed her.

When they entered the Great Hall, it was filling up quickly with students, and already, the food was sitting on the long tables, ready to be eaten. Breakfast itself was a rather quiet affair; Harry didn't feel much like starting conversation, and it was uncomfortable to have Hermione, Ron and Lavender staring at him everytime he coughed.

"Will you calm down?" he told them, nibbling on a piece of toast.

"Oh no!" Erin's cry of alarm from down the other end of the table startled them, and they turned.

"What's wrong?" Lavender called, and Erin showed Lavender her course schedule.

"I have flying lessons today!" she looked terrified, and Jess giggled.

"Ooh," she replied, "I forgot about that! We've had Madame Hooch earlier this past week, but it was only introduction. The conditions were much too awful for flying in. She was going over the importance of needing to learn how to fly, and blah blah blah. Today we're actually going to actually do it! I'm so excited! I'm hoping to try out for Quidditch when it starts again!"

Harry smiled at her. "Are you afraid of heights?" he asked Erin, who seemed to have lost all interest in her eggs and kipper.

"Oh come on," Jess encouraged. "It's fun, flying is!"

"Isn't it dangerous?" Erin asked, and Hermione looked at her. "I mean, broomsticks aren't very stable, are they? Couldn't you possibly slide off the end if you go too fast?"

"I don't like it much either," she admitted, "but it's required of witches and wizards to learn, because we're not able to apparate until we're of age and have a license."

"But there are other methods of transportation, aren't there?" Erin asked. "I mean, a witch flying on a broomstick is so…stereotypical!"

"What were you thinking of?" Jess asked. "Other transportation we have is the Knight Bus…"

Ron sniggered, "oh, the Knight Bus is considered a good alternative?" he sniggered, as Harry broke into coughing again, immediately reaching for his goblet of pumpkin juice.

"That sounds healthy," Jess told him, frowning. "You should see the nurse, Harry…you look flushed."

Hermione felt his forehead just to be on the safe side, and sighed with relief. "You don't have a fever, so that's good," she told him. "Does anything else hurt?"

He looked at her, still drinking from his goblet. "Well, my back hurts…and my neck, but that's not surprising, considering I slept sitting up all night."

"You know what I read about in herbology that might be good for you, Harry?" Neville spoke up suddenly, and everyone turned to him. "Asphodel. I read that when mixed with wine, it can actually help a cough. Madame Pomfrey might be able to make you some, or Professor Sprout, if you have herbology today."

Hermione looked at Harry. "That's an interesting idea," she said, and Ron raised an eyebrow.

"Mixed with wine?" he asked, and Lavender nudged him.

"Oh please, Ron, a little wine won't kill him," she insisted. "I have wine with dinner all the time when I'm at home."

"Oh aren't you lucky, then?" Ron asked, and she kissed him.

"That cough does sound kind of bad," Erin added, digging through her bag. "Maybe you can try one of these," she added, handing him a miniature box.

"What is it?" he croaked, and she popped the lid, revealing a mound of hard, round, red candies.

"Cough drops I picked up from the apothecary in Diagon Alley," she explained. "They taste like cherry. Go on, take one."

Harry gratefully plucked one from the box, and, after thanking her, popped it into his mouth.

"Is that all you're eating, Harry?" Lavender asked, noticing his plate was still empty. Usually, Harry piled on as much as he could stomach at breakfast, and Ron was currently shoveling food in as though he were a trash compactor. "Are you even tasting anything?" she laughed, and he stuck out his tongue. "Okay, thanks," she cringed, and he smirked.

"I'm hungry," he told her. "cant a guy enjoy breakfast in peace?"

"Try to eat something else, Harry," Hermione encouraged, rubbing his back. "A bowl of porridge? Here, try a hot cake!" she cut a piece of her blueberry pancake, and offered it to him.

"Hermione, I'm not really that hungry this morning," he admitted, and he rested his head in his arms.

"We're taking you to the hospital wing," she told him. "Right now. Come on, Harry."

"No," he croaked, and she glanced at Lavender and Ron, who were watching him with worried expressions. "Hermione, I didn't sleep very well last night," he insisted.

"Then go on back to bed." She kissed him. "In bed," she added, and he shook her head.

"I can't start making a habit of missing classes this early in the term," he muttered, and she sighed.

"Harry, listen to me. Either you go to Madame Pomfrey and hear what she has to say, or you march right back to the tower and get some sleep. I'm not giving you a choice other than that, Harry. You're not feeling well today, and I'm not letting it get out of hand."

Ron sniggered into his pumpkin juice at Harry's astonished expression, and Lavender winked.

"Fine," he told her with a sigh. "I'll go and see Madame Pomfrey. But you're coming with me," he added, and she nodded.

"I will," she promised, and glanced at Lavender and Ron. "We'll see you later, then?" she asked, and Lavender nodded, waving as Hermione wrapped an arm around Harry's waist for support, leading him out of the Great Hall.

Luckily the infirmary was empty, except for the nurse herself, who was muttering to herself and straightening the sheets on the cots. "Madame Pomfrey?" Hermione asked, startling the older woman, who jumped. "Oh, sorry!" she apologied, and the nurse put a hand over her heart.

"You gave me a fright!" she gasped. "Oh, it's you again?" she asked, smiling.

"Yeah," Harry replied, letting out another deep cough. She clucked her tongue, and ordered him to sit down.

"You don't have to…" Madame Pomfrey began, looking at Hermione, but Hermione shook her head.

"He wants me to stay with him," she said stubbornly, and the nurse sighed.

"Well, all right. Now tell me, Potter, what's ailing you this morning?"

Harry shrugged. "Well, I haven't been able to stop coughing since I woke up," he explained. "And I'm not very hungry, either."

"Are you experiencing any other symptoms? Chills? Headache? Stuffiness?"

Harry shook his head. "No," he replied.

"His hands are like ice, though," Hermione pointed out, rubbing them vigorously, and, after Madame Pomfrey felt his free one, she nodded.

"Yes, they are." She felt Harry's forehead as Hermione had done earlier, and frowned.

"Mmmm." She put her hands on her hips. "This is certainly one stubborn cold. I'm starting to get a bit worried, myself," she told him.

"Could he be relapsing?" Hermione asked, wishing his hands would warm up.

"Giving the symptoms he's told us about, I don't think so," she replied. "Though that cough worries me. I'll mix up some asphodel and wine together and see if that helps. Clearly the pepper-up potion only did so much," she said. Hermione and Harry looked at each other with amusement, remembering Neville's advice at breakfast.

"Sure," Harry insisted. "Hermione, you should go to class," he whispered, checking the time. "You're running late."

She shrugged. "I want to make sure you're all right," she said. "I won't be able to concentrate, otherwise. Besides," she added, "It's Professor Flitwick. I'm sure he'll understand."

Harry nodded, having to restrain himself from kissing her in front of Madame Pomfrey.

"This will take about twenty minutes to make, Potter," Madame Pomfrey told him. "I have to strain the wine, and brew the asphodel. You may lay down for a spell. Miss Granger, I insist you get onto class…there really isn't much you can do here, dear," Madame Pomfrey told her, and Hermione pouted. "He'll be in good hands with me, I promise."

"Go," he told her. "I'll be okay."

"Oh Harry," Hermione sighed, and then nodded. "All right, all right. I love you. Thank you, Madame Pomfrey," she added, and the nurse gave a little wave. When Hermione left, Harry slid under the thin covers, feeling considerably warmer once he was under them.

"Madame Pomfrey?" he asked, pulling the blankets to his neck, "I was talking to Sirius over the winter holiday, and he said there's a possibility I won't get better from the illness I had this summer and last year."

Madame Pomfrey glanced at him. "He did, mmm?" she asked, and Harry nodded.

"I haven't felt well since this summer. I feel like I'm getting weaker rather than stronger, in fact. I mean, I have good days and I have bad ones, but…"

The nurse used her wand to heat a small cauldron, and, after filling it with water, began mixing the asphodel leaves into it. "Your godfather told me about the bad fever you had over the summer holiday before you were brought to me," she told him, uncorking a bottle of wine. Harry raised an eyebrow; he wondered how many professors and other staff members had alcohol hidden away in their rooms or offices. He knew for a fact that Dumbledore kept a stash of brandy in his office, because he'd offered it to Mad-Eye Moody on several occasions during his fourth year.

"Yeah," Harry told her, shuddering at the memory.

"Well, no doubt that fever damaged your heart, Harry. You're more susceptible to what comes through the school. Most students would get over a cold in a day or two after taking pepper-up, but you unfortunately, take a longer time to recover." She poured a good amount of the white wine into a goblet, and began to stir it with a spoon. "This is legal, I assure you," she laughed, as she poured the wine into another contraption. "Oh, I forgot to ask you, dear, how did your first rehearsal go last night?"

Harry sniggered. "Well, awful," he admitted.

"Really?" she looked at him.

"Of course, we only read from our scripts, but Snape…sorry…Professor Snape…he thought we did terrible."

Madame Pomfrey gave a snort, as she tapped the strange contraption with her wand. "What can he expect from a group of students who have never taken up acting in their lives?" she asked. "Harry, don't fret. I'm sure everything will turn out wonderfully. I am personally thrilled by the idea of the production; we needed the arts introduced to Hogwarts!"

Harry raised an eyebrow—personally, he would rather have Quidditch practice than anything in the world. Though he was glad Hermione was getting to try something she enjoyed; usually, the students at Hogwarts focused so much attention around the Quidditch matches, and she had very little interest at all in the sport. She only came to watch the games, because Harry and Ron were playing…she was their support.

"Here, we are." She eventually poured the final contents into another goblet, and carried it over to Harry. "Now, it's a bit strong, but you've had Skelegrow, which is probably the worst of the concoctions you'll ever have to take from me."

Harry smiled weakly at her, struggling to sit up against the headboard. He took a deep breath, easing the edge of the goblet to his lips. The harsh scent of asphodel startled him, and he was dreading what it would taste like.

"Down the hatch, then." Madame Pomfrey clapped her hands twice, and Harry shakily took down the medicine as fast as he could. When he was finished, he groaned, craving water.

"There now. That wasn't so bad, was it?" Madame Pomfrey gave him some water to wash out the taste, and then felt his forehead again.

"You should stay here and sleep for a little while," she encouraged.

"No," Harry told her. "I'll be fine. I really have to get to class." He tried to sit up, but felt a wave of dizziness past over him, and she eased him back against the pillows.

"I'll wake you in a few hours, Harry. You need your rest," she added, and, defeated, Harry snuggled down against the mattress and soft, fluffy pillows.

Madame Pomfrey didn't wake Harry until lunch, which meant that he had missed Herbology and Charms. He felt considerably better after being able to sleep properly, and his hands weren't so cold anymore.

"Have a good rest of the afternoon, Potter," Madame Pomfrey told him as he left, heading for the Great Hall for the second time that day. He was grateful to be feeling considerably hungrier than he had.

"Hey," Ron called, when he entered. "Where have you been?" He and Ron had Herbology together. "Was everything okay with the nurse?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, it was okay. I took some medicine and she let me sleep for a few hours. Where's Hermione?"

"She said she had to go to the library," Ron said, "and Lavender went with her. She had some stuff to look up for her Arithmancy homework."

Harry nodded, sitting down at the table. It had been a while since he and Ron spent time together without their girlfriends in tow, though Harry had to admit, it felt so…strange, without Hermione sitting right beside him.

"Good to see you eating again," Ron told him as he snagged a sandwich and a handful of crisps from the bowl in the center. "What'd she give you, anyway, Madame Pomfrey?"

Harry smirked. "Wine and asphodel."

Ron snorted into his pudding. "Neville must be getting extra lessons from him, then." He rolled his eyes. "This is weird, okay, I admit it!" he raised his arms. "No girls!"

Harry laughed. "What do you say we surprise them in the library?" he suggested.

"Oh this is pathetic," Ron smirked. "we cant even spend time alone together without thinking of them!" he finished the last of his food. "Remember when we had a hard time getting dates for the Yule Ball? Blimey, why didn't Hermioine and Lavender come along then, eh?"

"Well, Hermione had been there all along," Harry told him. "We just never really thought of her as well, a dating type…probably because we kept thinking she was one of us…one of the guys or something."

"You came around faster than I did," Ron admitted, and Harry grinned.

"You didn't come up empty handed either," he replied, and Ron raised an eyebrow. "Though you and I have to go out and practice Quidditch one of these days, so we're not rusty when practice starts up again next year."

Ron nodded. "Yeah, sounds good. I miss flying regularly. Ready to head to the library, then?" he asked, and Harry slipped an apple into the pocket of his robes. He was sure Hermione had decided not to eat lunch…she tended to put her schoolwork in front of the essential meal sometimes, which amused him.

When they arrived in the library, they found Hermione with her nose buried in an enormous book, frantically scribbling notes on a piece of parchment. She let out a groan frustration, and flipped the page once, and then back again. Lavender wasn't there, but Ron mouthed for Harry to sneak up behind Hermione. Ron tiptoed down one of the empty isles of books, as Harry walked very quietly around the back of Hermione's chair.

"Hungry?" he asked, presenting the apple to her. She shrieked, covering her mouth with her hands, and receiving strange looks from the other students sitting around her. Madame Pince, also, gave her a distinctly annoyed look, and, with a loud, "SHHHH!" went back to stamping books again.

"Harry!" Hermione whispered, once she calmed down. "What are you doing here?"

Harry sat down in the empty seat, and handed the apple to her. "Well, Ron told me you were here, and I decided to come and surprise you." He kissed her.

"So…what did Madame Pomfrey say?" Hermione asked, once Ron tiptoed out from behind another isle. Lavender was in the next one over, and she peered through a space in the books when she swore she saw him.

"Ron?" she hissed, and he came right up to the shelf.

"Hello," he said, and she raised an eyebrow.

"What are you…" Ron kissed her between the books, which nearly toppled to the floor. Laughing, both of them came out from the isle, and Hermione glanced over her shoulder.

"What can we say?" Ron said. "We can't live with out you."

At that moment, Jess and Erin came into the library, both looking surprised at seeing the other four. Erin, though, looked even more terrified than she had at breakfast; her face was so white, it almost appeared to have been painted. "Had your lesson, eh?" Ron asked, and Erin squeaked.

"What happened to your head?" Lavender gasped, noticing a ghastly bruise forming on her younger cousin's forehead.

"Flew into a tree," Jess growled, and Ron immediately began laughing.

"Ron!" Lavender growled. "She could have been really hurt!"

"It was actually funny, really," Jess admitted. "I was distracted by a bunch of pretty birds, and I wanted to fly closer and get a better look at what kind they were. Unfortunately, I missed that tree and flew smack into another."

"How did Erin do?" Hermione asked, certain that the other girl was not going to speak anytime soon.

"Panicked about three feet in the air," Jess replied.

"Kind of like Neville did in our first year, remember?" Hermione asked Harry, clucking her tongue. "When he kicked off too soon, and ended up hanging from the astronomy tower?"

"I…I don't like it," Erin wailed. "I don't want to fly again, ever!"

Lavender came and gave her a hug, patting her shoulder. "It takes practice, but you'll get better at it. It's a really good skill to have," she said, and Jess grinned at her friend.

"I take it you won't be trying out for Quidditch with me, then?" she asked, and Erin gave her a murderous glare. "What, I was kidding!"

Hermione nudged Harry. "Would it help if Harry gave you a hug?" she asked, and Harry glanced at her with amusement. Erin stared.

"Hey!" Jess gasped. "If Erin gets one, can I get one too?"

"Jess, for once, can't you keep your mouth shut?" Lavender asked, clamping a hand over her cousin's lips.

"I suppose so," Erin replied softly, and Harry, though rather reluctantly, gave Erin a small hug.

"Me next!" Jess mumbled through Lavender's fingers, and Harry grinned.

"Oh go on, Lavender, let her have a go," Ron teased, and Harry raised his arms.

"What, are you going to start auctioning off hugs from me, now?" he asked, giving Jess a hug as well. When he finally sat down again, Jess stared.

"Wow," she said softy, "for a guy, you really have a weak hug there."

"Jess, please!" Lavender begged. "Shut it, will you?"

Jess looked at her. "What? I was just saying…it's unusual."

"It's unusual?" Erin asked, nudging Jess's arm, and the younger girl stared.

"Oooh," she breathed. "Shutting up. C'mon, Erin, let's go and start er…looking for those books we'll need for Snape's essay." She pulled her friend away, and they disappeared down another isle. Lavender placed a hand against her forehead, leaning her back against the table.

"It's all my fault," she said. "I was the one who suggested Jess go and sit with Erin on the first day. I didn't know this would happen."

Hermione laughed. "No, you did a good thing, really," she insisted. "Sometimes it's hard to make friends your first year. It was good you introduced them. Only, I wish I'd gotten to them first before Fred and George…"

Lavender groaned, and Ron smirked. "All right, all right," he said. "Lavender, do you really need to be in the library right now? We only have a half hour until classes."

"Ronald, unlike you, some people actually care about their schoolwork," Lavender retorted. "I have to work on my Divination assignments."

"A half hour, Lavender!" Ron was pleading, and she gave a heavy sigh, looking down at what she'd accomplished.

"This is my life," she told Harry and Hermioine. "Schoolwork and snogging. All right, you're lucky…I'm nearly done, so I can finish the rest of it tonight. See you at dinner!" she called, and, after packing her stuff up, drug Ron out of the library once she checked out her books from Madame Pince. Once they were gone, Hermione leaned in and kissed Harry on the lips.

"I'm nearly done my essay," she whispered, tugging on his robes. "And Ron's right…we do still have a half hour."

"Mmmm." Harry smiled. "Homework and snogging. I like the sound of that." He winked, tickling Hermione's sides gently. "If you're sure you want to stop working," he added, and Hermione grinned.

"Sure. Let me just finish this once sentence, and we'll go and make out for a bit." She put the finishing touch on her paragraph, and, after returning her books, she and Harry dashed out of the library, where she shoved him into nearest corner.


End file.
